Budget 2020: Officer stays back in North Block, ignores personal loss

New Delhi: There are some people for whom duty comes first. They are always ready to make any sacrifice to remain committed to their jobs. Kuldeep Kumar Sharma, Deputy Manager (Press), has been in lock-in as he is one of the key staff tasked with printing of confidential Budget documents. While he was busy with the assignment, his father passed away on January 26, 2020.

Despite the colossal loss, Sharma decided not to leave the press area given the nature of his duty. He ignored his personal loss and showed extraordinary sincerity to his job.

"Informing with regret that Shri Kuldeep Kumar Sharma, Dy Manager (Press), lost his father on 26 Jan, 2020. Being on Budget duty, he was on job in the lock-in. In spite of his immense loss, Sharma decided not to leave the press area even for a minute," the Finance Ministry said in a tweet.

As Budget documents are secret until they are presented in the Parliament by the Union Finance Minister, its printing remains a confidential exercise.

The security is quite tight in the North Block basement where these documents are printed. So much so that the personnel involved in the exercise are not allowed to go out for almost 10 days, from the day printing starts till its presentation.

The printing of Budget papers begin with a customary `halwa` ceremony. It takes place in the presence of the Finance Minister. After `halwa` is distributed among the Finance Ministry staff, those assigned with the printing of Budget are locked in the basement press area of the North Block.

Till the Budget presentation, fooding and lodging arrangements are made inside the North Block. The staff are not allowed to call their family members during the quarantined period.

Words of appreciation poured in for Sharma after the Finance Ministry on Thursday shared the loss of Kuldeep Kumar Sharma with people tweeting condolence messages for him.