Thiruvananthapuram: Food and civil supplies minister GR Anil on Tuesday said finding ineligible beneficiaries is crucial for ensuring that eligible ones are not devoid of ration cards.

“The government has been trying to make the public distribution system more transparent,” the minister said.

He was addressing a gathering during the inauguration of the state-level distribution of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY-yellow) cards to 15,000 economically backward families.

According to the minister, the government has been receiving numerous applications from underprivileged individuals requesting inclusion in the AAY (priority ration cards) scheme. “Priority cards can be issued to eligible and poor ones in the society only if ineligible ones in the existing list are removed,” he said.

The minister noted that one of the important responsibilities of the government is to cleanse PDS. He also added that the government of the day issued more than 4 lakh new cards ever since it came to power.