Easy access

Till last year, two places were completely out of bounds for a journalist ahead of the Union Budget - one, the finance ministry, which prepared the Budget, and two, the erstwhile Planning Commission, which, though not quarantined like the ministry, had certain checks in place nonetheless. After the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog formally replaced the Planning Commission earlier this year, the task of preparing the Budget shifted entirely to the finance ministry. There is no restriction on access to the NITI Aayog ahead of this Budget.