North Block under quarantine as Fin Min gets down to preparing Budget 2019
New Delhi, June 10: North Block will be under quarantine from today as the Finance Ministry gets down to prepare the budget.
North Block, which houses the Finance Ministry here is under 'quarantine' from Monday until the presentation of the Budget on 5 July.
The Ministry will be out of bounds for visitors and media as it gets down to prepare the Budget for 2019-20 fiscal year.
Budget 2019: Heavy emphasis on farmers assured
To keep the whole Budget a secret exercise, North Block will be guarded like gold in Fort Knox and electronic sweeping devices are being installed and private e-mail facilities to most computers in the ministry are blocked.
During the 'quarantine' period, all the entry and exit points of the ministry will be guarded by security personnel while the Intelligence Bureau (IB) personnel, assisted by Delhi police, will keep a close watch on the movements of those entering the rooms of the officials involved in the Budget-making process.
Budget 2019: How North Block is being guarded like gold in Fort Knox
In her budget, the 59-year-old JNU alumnus, Sitharaman will have to address slowing economy, financial sector troubles like rising NPAs and liquidity crisis in NBFCs, job creation, private investments, exports revival, agrarian crisis and raise public investment without compromising on fiscal prudence.
The
first
session
of
the
newly
elected
17th
Lok
Sabha
will
be
held
from
17
June
to
26
July.
The
Economic
Survey
for
2019-20
will
be
tabled
on
5
July
followed
by
the
presentation
of
the
budget
on
the
next
day.