Vinay Bihari. Telegraph picture

Patna, Nov. 1: After officials in his department, the art, culture and youth affairs minister has now turned vitriolic against district magistrates.

“The magistrates of a majority of districts are not serious at all when it comes to my department and directions given to them are ignored and dumped. One among the best examples of the same is the plan, which involves the construction of Rabindra Bhavan in every district at a cost of Rs 3.7 crore each. The plan, to be executed by both the Centre and state on 60:40 basis, involves the construction of these buildings in remembrance of Rabindranath Tagore,” minister Vinay Bihari told The Telegraph today.

“The department has sent at least two letters to all the DMs asking them to inform the department about plots in the district headquarters where these bhavans can be constructed. However, only the districts of Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur have responded. It has been more than two months now that the letter and a reminder have been sent to each district. This clearly shows that the DMs are not at all serious when it comes to my department,” he added.

Department sources said the UPA regime at the Centre had announced this plan just before the Lok Sabha elections.

“It has been around one and half months since the plan was announced. The department just needs information from the DMs about the availability of plots so that construction of Rabindra Bhavans can be started. However, they (DMs) have ignored the directives. The department is now planning to use other sources like contacting the MLAs and other resourceful people in a bid to find out the ground reality of plot availability in the district. Also, we will hold a meeting with all the DMs this month seeking an explanation from them,” Bihari added.

At present, the state has one Rabindra Parishad at Beer Chand Patel Marg. “In 2008, the state provided us with Rs 3 crore for renovation of this structure. Some funds were contributed by us and the renovation work was done,” said Prabhash Roy, general secretary, Rabindra Parishad, which has a state-of-the-art auditorium.

On October 16, Bihari had accused his officials of corruption stating that they had provided the department with false reports in connection with stadiums, which are being constructed in several blocks.