Patna, July 19: Bihar government is in the process of setting up regional engineering organisation to use the MPs’ local area funds along with the state’s funds to execute the development work at the ground-level, chief minister Nitish Kumar said today.

Speaking to reporters at his Assembly office chamber today, Nitish said the government had relieved the district magistrates (DMs) from getting involved in the allotment of work and fund to the agencies concerned. “The DMs will now concentrate more on the supervisory role, which is the main work attached to their office,” he said.

The chief minister said involving DMs in the fund-related work affected the governance at the local-level with the DMs staying busier in dealing with MPs and MLAs fund instead of doing their actual work. “They were not getting time to hold courts or dispose of the cases pending with them,” he remarked.

Moreover, the decision would also keep the MPs free from picking up the men in their respective constituencies to do the work. “The regional engineering authorities will do it in a professional manner through open bids and tenders,” he said.

Nitish said the MPs, however, get the work of their choice done in their constituencies. “The regional engineering organisations will list the works to be done. The MPs would tick their choices and that will be binding on these organisations,” he said.

The chief minister pointed out that the MPs were earning “bad names” by selecting the contractors to use their funds. “If an agency set up by the state government picks up the contractors to get the work done, the MPs will find the work in their respective areas done in a more appropriate manner,” he said.

Nitish said the state government had given lots of thought in creating the regional engineering organisation to carry out the development work on the grassroots level with the fund of the state and MPs.