Congress leader Elvis Gomes addressing a news conference at Mapusa Congress office along with Vijay Bhike, Sanjay Barde and Virendra Shirodkar.
MAPUSA
Congress leaders on Saturday insisted that a late fee of Rs 1,000 to link the Aadhaar card with the PAN card should not be charged from the public and sought an extension to link the two cards without any penalty.
Elvis Gomes, Vijay Bhike, Sanjay Barde and Virendra Shirodkar put forth the demand at a news conference at the Mapusa Congress office.
“Those who are assisting the public to link the two cards are charging Rs 200 and hence, this is looting the public,” alleged Elvis Gomes.
He demanded that the government should allow people to link the two cards without any penalty and to refund the late fees already taken so far.
The central government had made it mandatory to link the Aadhaar card with the PAN card by March 31, 2022, and this was extended till March 31, 2023, with a penalty of Rs 1,000.
Congress general secretary Vijay Bhike and North Goa spokesperson Sanjay Barde felt that linking the Aadhaar card with the PAN card is a good thing but the government should have given more time to public to link the two cards as the servers are down sometimes.
Gomes also claimed that Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte’s statement that prostitution is carried on at Calangute exposes the inefficiency of the BJP government.
“The tourism minister must explain what action is being taken by him to curb such illegalities. He should also check why the police is not taking any action, and on whose instructions,” claimed Gomes.
The North Goa Congress District Committee also criticised the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s membership in Parliament.
“This is an effort to shut the opposition voice, but Rahul Gandhi is a national leader and thousands of such Rahul Gandhi's will rise in India,” said Virendra Shirodkar, district president of Congress.
