Chennai: In the fake books procurement issue, how many books were purchased? What was their value? Who recommended purchasing them? Based on that, who approved the procurement? PMK leader Anbumani has insisted that a white paper containing complete details, including these, should be released immediately.
In a statement issued today regarding this, he said, “The news coming out every day regarding the alleged corruption in the purchase of books for the Coimbatore Periyar Arivulagam Library is shocking and concerning. Will they even commit corruption in book procurement? At a time when Tamil Nadu has been brought into disrepute across the country, all the facts on this should be revealed and the corrupt should be exposed.
Allegations arose on the 6th that massive corruption had taken place in the purchase of books for the Periyar Arivulagam Library, which was set up under the DMK government in Coimbatore and opened on October 16 last year.
The shocking news that has emerged over the past few days is that the largest number of books were purchased from two publishers, Agalvilakku Publications and Phoenix Publications, which are not widely known in the publishing world and are not even registered with the South Indian Publishers Association, and that all of those books were created using artificial intelligence technology under imaginary names of nonexistent people.
While it was believed that corruption had taken place only in the purchase of books for the Coimbatore Periyar library, reports have now emerged that in the newly built Tenkasi Central Library, which was opened on October 29 last year, around 2,200 fake books published by Agalvilakku Publications alone have been identified and removed. Media reports say that most of those books were priced above Rs. 1,000, and that Rs. 27 lakh was paid to Agalvilakku Publications alone for this. Officials have also said that payment for these books, purchased during the DMK regime, was made in a hurry.
It was decided to build district central libraries in the 6 newly opened districts in 2018-19, and new libraries have been opened in Tenkasi, Ranipet, and Kanchipuram districts. It is said that, not only in Tenkasi, but also in the other libraries, most of the books purchased were published by Agalvilakku and Phoenix publishers.
It is said that from the Chennai Connemara Library to the branch libraries in villages, books published by Agalvilakku Publications are found everywhere in abundance. This corruption has brought great disgrace to Tamil Nadu.
Although the government side has repeatedly said that all the facts in the fake book procurement case will be brought to light and that the culprits cannot escape, the information related to this corruption has not been released; the first information report has also not yet been filed.
Following the Madurai Bench of the Chennai High Court, which heard the case filed in connection with this corruption and issued some stern orders to the Tamil Nadu government, Rs. 22 lakh in three bank accounts belonging to Akal Vilakku Publications has been frozen. So far, no First Information Report has been filed, and the Tamil Nadu government has promised that an FIR will be registered soon and submitted to the court.
It is said that, in the purchase of fake books, several other publishers besides Akal Vilakku Publications and Phoenix Publications may also be involved. Allegations have also surfaced that corruption worth crores may have taken place not only in the purchase of books, but also in the construction of libraries. No one involved in these corrupt acts should be allowed to escape.
The money looted through the fake book procurement scam is entirely the tax money of the people of Tamil Nadu. Therefore, the people of Tamil Nadu have the right to know all the facts about this corruption. This scam has brought disrepute to the Tamil Nadu government in other states and even in foreign countries. To erase that stain, the Tamil Nadu government's primary duty is to arrest everyone involved in this corruption, including publishers, officials, and politicians, and bring them before the law. The Tamil Nadu government must fulfill that duty.
There can be no pardon for those who not only carried out corruption in the purchase of books for libraries meant to nurture the knowledge of the people and students, but also engaged in the act of purchasing substandard fake books and thereby obscuring knowledge.
Therefore, for which libraries in Tamil Nadu, how many books were purchased from publishers such as Agalvilakku Publications and Phoenix Publications? What was their value? Who recommended their purchase? On that basis, who granted the purchase approval? A white paper containing complete details, including these, must be released immediately; whoever is involved in this scam must be arrested and brought before the law.
