Budget secrecy is too archaic now to be continued

Budget reform is not something the Modi government has shied away from

The finance ministry’s insistence on holding on to the archaic tradition of budget secrecy is laying it low. A number of senior officials are down with covid because secrecy has forced them to share physical files during a pandemic.

The minister herself has remained safe so far, but for how long? Given how extremely infectious the omicron variant is, she has been very lucky so far. What if she catches the bug between now and February 1?

Since there is a clear choice between remaining healthy enough to present the Budget and holding onto a now unnecessary notion of secrecy, the FM