Won't insist on Aadhar card initially, Manohar Parrikar assures

PANAJI: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today told the Assembly that state agencies will accept photocopies of Aadhar card or even the card number for making available benefits of government schemes if an applicant is yet to get the card.

Though several people haven't got the cards, it is possible to get print-out, or know the number, from Aadhar website, he said.

The state has decided to make it mandatory to have Aadhar cards for availing welfare schemes. Parrikar said for the initial three months, authorities would take a lenient approach, but "thereafter the card would be compulsory".

Earlier, BJP MLA Kiran Kandolkar said the officers were insisting on Aadhar cards though many people were yet to receive them.