GUWAHATI, June 23 - The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has demanded of the BJP government to make its stand public on the issue of the Aadhar cards vis-�-vis the State, as the Union government has made it mandatory for taxpayers to link their Aadhar number to their PAN cards with effect from July 1, 2017 in order to be able to file their income tax (IT) returns.
Moreover, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has introduced a new Section 139 AA in the Income Tax Act of 1961 which makes it mandatory to link the Aadhar number to PAN cards. The new provision also states that the existing PAN card holders who fail to link their Aadhar numbers will have their PAN cards revoked and those cards will be invalid for all purposes.
Aadhar card has also been made mandatory for opening any bank accounts and linking the Aadhar number with bank accounts by December 31, 2017. Quoting Aadhar number in case of transactions worth Rs 50,000 and above has also been mandatory.
The Union government had also issued a directive to telecom operators in the country asking them to re-verify all phone numbers with Aadhar and if they are found to be not linked to Aadhar by February 2018, then these phone numbers will be deactivated.
As a pilot project, the process of giving Aadhar cards was started in the urban areas of the three districts of Nagaon, Sonitpur and Golaghat. But it was stopped as it was sought to be done after update of NRC (National Register of Citizens) all over Assam so that no illegal immigrants can get Aadhar card and avail government benefits.
In May this year, State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary had informed the State Assembly that the government would restart the process of giving Aadhar cards in the State and that there was no need to wait for completion of NRC update since Aadhar is not proof of citizenship.
But the question is, how will they stop any �illegal or fake� enrolment of Aadhar card as to get an Aadhar card there is a list of 29 documents, which will make it very easy for anyone to get an Aadhar card, said the APCC in a statement signed jointly by senior spokespersons Abdul Khaleque and Bobbeeta Sarma.
