COIMBATORE/CHENNAI: One book calls Naladiyar a poet and philosopher from Tamil Nadu. Another invents a non-existent author for Madurai Kanchi. A third book says a Nandi sculpture was found during Keeladi excavation and publishes a photo of the supposed find. Such inaccuracies, factual errors and fictious information have been found in literary books at the recently opened Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore.State school education minister A Rajmohan has blamed the previous DMK govt for procurement of sub-standard books and said a detailed probe would be ordered. DMK has denied the charge and said the books were purchased by TVK govt.Acclaimed writer Perumal Murugan who exposed the alleged scam, said nearly 1,800 books, most of them by never-heard-of authors and exorbitantly priced were sourced from a publication called ‘Agal Vilakku Pathippagam’ in Chennai. The books stacked in the library’s fourth-floor Tamil section were suspected to be AI written. The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) printed on them were also fake, he said.Citing the discrepancies, Murugan said a book titled ‘Naladiyar Vaazhvin Vazhikatti’ said Naladiyar was a Tamil poet and philosopher. But Naladiyar is not the name of an individual, let alone the author. The book in fact, is a collection of 400 verses attributed to Jain ascetics, he said.What shocked the readers was that the 300-page book, purportedly written by Surya Balu, was priced at Rs1,445 against an approximate Rs350 for comparable publications.Errors extended to contemporary history as well. A book titled ‘Tamil Nadu Oru Paarvai’, written by Dhanalakshmi Arjun, says Muthuvelu Subbaiah Iyer was chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1947, when no such leader existed. Murugan also alleged that the book ‘Bharathiyar Kathaigal’ by Manisha Saravanan attributed an unverified story to poet Subramania Bharathi.The books by Agal Vilakku Pathippagam contained unfamiliar author names, including Trisha Vijay, Vijay Balu, Surya Balu and Monika Surya. More than 100 books in the library were from Phoenix Pathippagam, which shared the same address as that of Agal Vilakku Pathippagam in Chennai.Sources in the state libraries department said there was no procurement of books for any library after TVK came to power. TVK’s IT wing posted a copy of a govt order issued in Feb 2026 for procurement of books from Agal Vilakku Pathippagam, blaming the previous DMK govt.Director of public libraries (in-charge) S Jayandhi said, “The books were purchased based on the recommendations of the selection and recommendation committees.” The selection committee included former State Planning Commission vice-chairperson J Jeyaranjan, zoology professor Sultan Ahamed Ismail, political science professor Ramu Manivannan, Tamil scholar M K Arasenthiran and archaeologist K Rajan. Murugan was also among the committee members recommending modern literature and literary criticism. However, he said the members were not informed which of the recommended titles were finally purchased.Sultan Ahmed Ismail questioned the book selection process. He said committee members had directly shortlisted books for the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai and Kalaignar Centenary Library in Madurai. However, for Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore, the library department circulated a Google Sheet for members to enter book titles. “I protested against the change and did not recommend any titles,” he said, demanding a disclosure of records identifying those who recommended the disputed Tamil books.Rajmohan said he was pained by Perumal Murugan’s revelations and criticised the factual errors in the books. Accusing the previous DMK govt of corruption in the procurement process, he said the procurement began in Nov 2025 with the purchase committee meeting on Jan 24, 2026. “Inquiry into this corruption has begun. Whoever is involved will be brought before the law, and justice will be ensured,” Rajmohan said.He ordered scrutiny of book purchases for other libraries.
