Tamil writer Perumal Murugan has alleged that there was major corruption involved in the procurement of books for the the ₹300 crore Coimbatore Periyar Library and Science Centre, which was inaugurated last month by Chief Minister Vijay.
The grand library building started construction during the DMK's term.
After a visit to the library, the author took to his website ‘Sindhai’ to write an article titled ‘Periyar Arivulagathil Periya Oozhal’ and flagged all the series irregularities he discovered. He said that some of the books distributed to the library were fake and substandard.
The author alleged that in the Tamil section of the library, some of the authors' names were fake and all the 'International Standard Book Number' (ISBN) found in the books were fake.’
He said that the books also had incomplete or incorrect information, with some created using AI.
He said 1800 books were sold to the library by an unverified publishing company, 'Agalvilakku Pathippagam.'
He also said that books that were meant to be just Rs 300 were sold at a price of Rs 1,500. He said that while publishing houses sold Naladiyar's books for ₹350, a three-hundred-page book titled 'Naladiyar's Guide to Life' written under the name of Surya Balu was purchased for ₹1,445.
“The price of the three-hundred-page book ‘Naladiyar’s Guide to Life’ (Author: Surya Balu) is only Rs. 1445/-! This is the price of each book. Considering that such expensive books are written with great effort and rare information, it is even more shocking if you open it up and look inside. ‘Naladiyar was an important poet and philosopher of Tamil. He also lived as a visionary in Tamil literature, known all over the world.’”
He also alleged that in one of the books by the publisher, the author of Maduraikkanji is incorrectly referred to as Madurai Koolathi Peruvazhathi, and in another book, a photograph of Nandi is mentioned as a sculpture found in Keezhadi. He alleged that the references in many books are incorrect and that there has been corruption worth crores in the distribution of the books.
'Who has embezzled crores by distributing fake books? What is the politics behind this? Who has the money gone to?' Murugan questioned.
He sought immediate action in the case. " An investigation committee should be formed to bring the frauds to the public's attention. Before that, all those books should be removed from the library shelves," he said.
Tamil Nadu State Minister for Tamil Development, Information and Publicity, Rajmohan has now ordered that an investigation be opened into the alleged corruption . He alleged that this is one of the scams that took place during the DMK term.
“A contract was signed last January to purchase books for Periyar's Knowledge Centre. We have immediately started an investigation into this. Appropriate action will be taken against those who committed the wrongdoing soon”
"I have instructed officials to be very careful regarding the libraries to be opened in the future and the books to be purchased for them," Minister Rajmohan said.
