FinMin team to unwind at Surajkund before preparations for full Budget start

After presenting the interim Budget for 2014-15, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram and his team of 90 officers are set for a three-day annual retreat in Surajkund, close to here, before beginning preparations for the full Budget.

At this year’s retreat, from February 28 to March 2, model-actress Hasleen Kaur and shooter Gagan Narang will be celebrity guests. While Kaur, 25, was Miss India Earth 2011, Narang had won India a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

The two will be sharing their ideas at the ‘Vision for India’ session. Previous editions of the session had seen speakers and celebrity guests such as Unique Identification Authority of India Chairman Nandan Nilekani, film director Shekhar Kapur, actors Aamir Khan, Chitrangada Singh and Nandita Das, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, and cricketer Gautam Gambhir.

The most-awaited part of the retreat is a skit prepared by directors and deputy directors at the ministry. Usually, this is a spoof on their bosses. At last year’s retreat, Mayaram had surprised all with his singing talent. The retreat will also have various activities such as cricket matches and yoga sessions for officers, as well as a panel discussion on ‘poverty alleviation and empowerment’, to be attended by representatives from McKinsey and a non-governmental organisation.

At the retreat, Finance Minister P Chidambaram will give a pep talk to his officers.

The idea of such a retreat was floated in 2008, when then finance secretary D Subbarao had sought to make Chidambaram accessible to ministry officials.

During the three-day retreat, officials at the department of economic affairs (DEA) take a break from everyday work, though attendance is mandatory.

This time, however, some officials sought to skip it. “Only a few officers had some issues but those have been sorted. One of them had a genuine official reason (to skip), while two others had unavoidable personal reasons,” said a ministry official on condition of anonymity.

This will be the second DEA retreat in Surajkund (the first edition, in 2008, was also held there). Through the years, retreats were held at Sohna, Faridabad, Manesar, Gurgaon and Faridabad.

Usually, the retreat is conducted in January. But as there was no clarity on the date of the interim Budget this year, officials decided to hold it after the conclusion of Parliament session. The idea of the retreat is refreshing officials – of the ranks of deputy secretaries or higher —  ahead of their hectic Budget schedule. The ministry tries to restrict expenses to the least possible and celebrity guests aren’t promised any fee. As such, many big names that received invitations politely turned those down, officials said.