Budget 2018 | India’s tryst with a briefcase of secrets and style

What’s in a bag? Well, a lot, if you are talking about the Union Budget. From the memories of colonial past to making a style statement, the budget bag of the Finance Ministers of Independent India has come a long way.

As Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents the Budget 2018 in the Lok Sabha today, here’s a look back at the evolution of the much photographed budget bag:

1: To start with, one must know the origin of word budget. The word budget comes from Middle English word ‘bowgette’, which came from Middle French ‘bougette’ — meaning a leather bag. Like most of the modern day traditions, the roots of the budget bag dates back to Victorian era when Chancellor of the Exchequer William Ewart Gladstone in Queen Victoria’s regime carried his budget papers in a little red suitcase.

2: In India, the tradition began with our first Union Budget, when RK Shanmukham Chetty carried the budget papers in a leather portfolio bag on November 26, 1947.

3: 10 years later, TT Krishnamachari came to Parliament with a slender file instead of the usual Budget box.

4: In 70s, the briefcase got a makeover. Now, a classic hardtop, aluminium-rimmed attache case was used to carry the Budget documents.  

5: From straps and buckles down the front to black variant of original, things came back to red box when Pranab Mukherjee was at the helm of affairs in Finance Ministry. Interestingly, the finance ministry offers the Finance Ministry with a choice of three or four bags out of which the FM picks one depending upon his choice of colour.