‘Fake books’ and a novelist’s questions: Inside Tamil Nadu’s ‘library scam’

A book of classical Tamil verse presented as a poet and philosopher. Another poet acquires a royal identity. A writer who spent nearly 15 years studying Tamil literature and 30 years teaching it opens a library book and discovers, to his astonishment, how much he apparently did not know.

These are among the encounters Tamil novelist Perumal Murugan describes in an essay alleging serious irregularities in book purchases for Periyar Arivulagam, a new public library in Coimbatore inaugurated by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay on October 16.

His account has drawn a sharply worded political response accusing the previous DMK government — under which the library was conceived — of corruption. Both demand attention to public money, though their emphases differ. Murugan examines the books while the response directs its attack at the DMK.

Built across seven acres at a cost of nearly Rs 300 crore, the seven-storey library was equipped with facilities comparable to those at the Anna Centenary Memorial Library in Chennai and the Kalaignar Centenary Memorial Library in Madurai, according to Murugan. A statue of Periyar stands at its entrance.

The opening had already generated arguments over political credit. Murugan wrote that Vijay had not acknowledged it as a DMK project, even in passing. Former CM M K Stalin visited on November 4 and was felicitated that evening by the Dravidar Kazhagam.

Inside, Murugan found another controversy. On the fourth floor, he counted nearly 1,800 Tamil books from the Agalvilakku Publishing House, a publisher unfamiliar to him despite four decades in the literary world. Nearly all were hardbound.

“Perhaps the scope of my reading and my pursuit of knowledge are that limited,” he wrote.

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A shelf full of questions

One 300-page volume, “Naladiyar: A Guide to Life”, by Surya Balu, cost Rs 1,445. Other publishers, he said, charge Rs 350 for books of that length. The price suggested considerable labour and rare knowledge. Opening the book produced a different impression.

“Naladiyar, an important poet and philosophical sage of Tamil,” its opening declared, according to the passage Murugan reproduced. Naladiyar, he explained, is a collection of 404-line verses by unnamed Jain ascetics. The book nevertheless described this supposed individual’s songs, poems, and insights into human existence.

“Reading this made my head spin,” Murugan wrote. A second volume, “Madurai Kanchi: A Literary Journey”, by Dev Nilan, was also 300 pages long and priced at Rs 1,395. It attributed the work to “Madurai Koozhathi Peruvazhuthi,” first describing him as a poet and later as a victorious king skilled at managing war’s social and economic consequences. Murugan identified the author of “Madurai Kanchi” as Mangudi Maruthanar, a poet, not a king. “Who on earth is this Koozhathi Peruvazhuthi?” he asked.

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The surprises continued into modern literature. A book called “Bharathiyar Stories,” attributed to Manisha Saravanan, presented a story called “The Face of Achievement” as Bharathiyar’s work. Murugan questioned both that attribution and the passage’s awkward language, calling on Bharathi researchers to establish whether the story was his.

In another volume, “The History Keeladi Tells,” he reported finding a photograph of a large Nandi presented as a sculpture discovered there. A book titled “Tamil Nadu: An Overview” identified “Muthuvelu Subbiah Iyer” as the state’s first Chief Minister in 1947 and introduced “M K Ramasamy” as a subsequent political leader.

Murugan’s mock astonishment accompanied a broader allegation: that publishers had been created specifically to supply the library, using underdeveloped Artificial Intelligence to produce books under fictitious authors’ names.

He also alleged that the ISBNs were false, saying online searches returned no matching numbers. The books supplied an email address but no mobile number, he wrote. More than 100 books from Phoenix Publishing House were also on the shelves, he said, while hundreds of boxes apparently remained unpacked. He questioned what further material those boxes, and the English-language collection, might contain.

Vijay targets DMK

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The political response came from Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay who praised Murugan for exposing the alleged procurement corruption. It also said the novelist had served on a committee recommending modern literature and criticism for new libraries, constituted under a government order dated November 5, 2025, during the previous DMK administration.

Vijay’s statement accused the DMK leadership of recommending substandard books while boasting of the care taken in developing the library. “The DMK has committed corruption in a slightly different way, turning Coimbatore’s Periyar Arivalayam itself into a world of corruption,” said the CM.

The statement placed the library allegations alongside accusations involving municipal administration, state government enterprise TASMAC that sells alcoholic beverages, tenders, and school education. It invoked its speaker’s earlier political declaration that the DMK was plundering in Periyar’s name, presenting Murugan’s findings as confirmation. “But our hearts are troubled because it is all public money,” it said.

Murugan alleged that corruption could run into crores, but also posed questions about who supplied the books, who received the money, and how many such volumes had entered the collection. His requested first step was immediate and physical: remove the books from the shelves. He called for action against everyone involved and an inquiry committee to place the facts of the alleged fraud before the public. And his essay reminded everyone that there were books yet to be opened.

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DMK leader and former minister Govi Chezhiyan accused Vijay of using the allegations for narrow political ends rather than examining government records. He said the DMK government had introduced a transparent book procurement policy and appointed a recommendation committee that included Murugan. Questioning why such complaints surfaced after the change of government, he alleged possible ulterior motives or a conspiracy. Chezhiyan demanded disclosure of the backgrounds of the books, authors and approved publishers, an independent investigation and legal action against those responsible, stating this was the DMK’s position on the alleged irregularities.