Rural works and panchayati raj minister Bhim Singh at the janata darbar on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Oct. 17: Rural works minister Bhim Singh, who also holds the additional charge of the panchayati raj, was a busy man at chief minister Nitish Kumar’s janata darbar today. Of the 400 visitors at the meet, 50 went to him to get their problems solved.

Asked about the workload, the minister said: “There will always be more responsibility with more work.”

Singh was given the additional charge of the panchayati raj department after the death of the former minister Hari Prasad Sah on October 3.

Singh also said: “As I was already in charge of the rural works department, and panchayati raj deals with villages, I was given the additional responsibility by Nitishji. He trusts me and I hope to live up to his expectation. ”

Beside him sat the secretaries of the two departments — B. Rajendra of panchayati raj and Manoj Kumar Srivastava of rural works.

Singh said: “The seating arrangement has been made perfectly at the darbar to facilitate the work. There is no problem. Everything is running smoothly.”

Gaya resident Manohar Das, who visited the janata darbar, described his experience of interacting with the minister.

“Last time I came to the janata darbar, Nitishji asked me to meet Hariji. This time, he asked me to talk to Bhimji. At first, I was not sure about what to do. Then I was told that Bhimji has the additional postfolio.”

Singh also tried to make the visitors at ease. To one of them, he said: “Where are you going? I am looking after panchayati raj as well as rural works. There is no need to go anywhere else.”

Asked how he managed both the departments, Singh told The Telegraph: “If you manage your time properly, you can accomplish almost anything.”