CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu School Education Department has suspended five officials of the Directorate of Public Libraries following a major scandal involving the procurement of counterfeit, AI-generated, and grossly overpriced books for public libraries across the state.
The suspended officials who served on the book procurement coordinating and price-negotiating committees are – S. Kamatchi, Chief Librarian and Information Officer (in-charge) and Deputy Chief Librarian at the Anna Centenary Library (ACL) in Chennai; Dinesh Kumar, Chief Librarian and Information Officer (in-charge) at the Kalaignar Centenary Library in Madurai; V. Santhanakrishnan, Librarian and Information Officer at the Kalaignar Centenary Library and in-charge of the Periyar Library in Coimbatore; S. Santhana Karthikeyan, Librarian and Information Officer at the Anna Centenary Library; and J. Juliet, Chief Accounts Officer at the Directorate of Public Libraries.
The irregularities first came to light earlier this month when acclaimed Tamil writer Perumal Murugan flagged questionable books stocked at the newly inaugurated Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore, noting that nearly 1,800 books from Agal Vilakku Pathippagam and over 100 from Phoenix 2023 contained severe factual errors, distorted historical claims, fictitious author names, and signs of AI-generated content.
Subsequent inspections at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai and the Kalaignar Centenary Library in Madurai revealed similar malpractices in English-language acquisitions, including mismatched ISBNs and basic texts billed at exorbitant prices ranging from ₹2,895 per copy.
In response to the public outcry, the state government launched a statewide audit that has so far identified and removed 70,674 fraudulent books from library shelves while cancelling all pending orders.
Simultaneously, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court intervened while hearing a contempt petition on library procurement transparency, directing the DVAC to register an FIR, freeze the bank accounts of the implicated publishers, and thoroughly investigate the financial trail behind the purchases.
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