Briefcase to ‘bahi khata’ to tablet: A short history of Budget presentation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holding the Budget papers in a 'bahi khata' ahead of the 2020 Budget. (File image: Reuters)

For years, finance ministers in India were photographed walking into parliament with a briefcase before the annual Budget presentation. All that changed in 2019, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ditched the Budget briefcase for a bahi khata.

Nirmala Sitharaman was seen carrying a red bahi khata – a traditional ledger of accounts – before the Budget presentation of 2019. The decision to ditch the briefcase for a bahi khata was seen as renunciation of colonial legacy. The briefcase, after all, was a remnant of the British rule in India - a copy of the ‘Gladstone box’ that is used in British budget presentations.

The tradition of carrying the Budget papers in a briefcase was handed over to us by the British. India’s Budget briefcase was a copy of the ‘Gladstone box’ that is used in British budget. (Image: News18 Creative)

It was India's first finance minister, RK Shankmukham Chetty, who continued the British tradition by carrying documents for the first Union Budget of independent India in a leather portfolio bag. Over the next few years, different finance ministers used different briefcases for the Budget.

Sitharaman’s decision to use the bahi khata, on the other hand, provided an Indian touch to the Budgetary exercise. The bahi khata has been used in India for decades by business owners and households to maintain their accounts.

The Budget briefcases gave way to the Indian bahi khata and eventually, the Budget presentation became paperless.

“I thought it was better we move out from British handhold. And I thought it was good enough to do something on our own. It was easier for me to carry also and very Indian,” Sitharaman said of her decision to use the red silk bahi khata.

The traditional carrier of Budget papers made an appearance for the second and last time in 2020. The following year, however, this traditional book of accounts gave way for a more modern device. Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget in 2021 in paperless format by using a made-in-India tablet.

She carried the tablet to parliament in a red bahi khata-style pouch in 2021 and again in 2022. The decision to use a tablet was seen as a push for the government’s Digital India initiative.

This year, too, Budget 2023 will be presented in paperless format, the finance ministry has announced.