Additional grain for Bengal: Thomas

Union food minister K V Thomas on Tuesday assured Trinamool Congress leaders that their long-pending demand for extra allocation of foodgrain to certain extremely poor blocks will be met by the first week of April. The meeting, which took place against the backdrop of stormy relation between the two partners, concluded with the food minister assuring the delegation that the other demand of the state of a Rs 480-crore allocation for construction of new godowns will also be addressed under the ongoing Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee scheme.