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‘It Symbolises Our Departure From Slavery Of Western Thought’: Sitharaman Drops Briefcase For Bahi Khata
Swarajya Staff
Jul 05, 2019, 10:37 AM | Updated 10:37 AM IST
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today (5 July) decided to depart from the colonial era tradition of carrying Union Budget documents in a black leather briefcase, and instead chose to carefully carry the papers in India’s traditional Bahi Khata.
The Bahi Khata is a four layered red cloth which was used to wrap ledgers in ancient India. This move has been described by Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian as a departure from the slavery of Western thought.
Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian on FM Nirmala Sitharaman keeping budget documents in four fold red cloth instead of a briefcase: It is in Indian tradition. It symbolizes our departure from slavery of Western thought. It is not a budget but a 'bahi khata'(ledger) pic.twitter.com/ZhXdmnfbvl
— ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2019
Ahead of the budged which is set to be presented from 11 AM, the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur also offered prayers at a temple. As tradition demands, both Finance Minister Sitharaman and Thakur also called upon President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
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