COIMBATORE/CHENNAI: Allegations of AI-generated books — featuring references to non-existent historical figures — dubious publishing houses, inflated prices and fictional authors have cast a cloud over the book procurement process for the Periyar Knowledge World in Coimbatore, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on October 16.
Commending award-winning Tamil writer Perumal Murugan for exposing the issue, Vijay on Friday alleged irregularities by the previous DMK regime and called the party a “crowd of corruption”.
Among the glaring errors highlighted by the author was a reference to a non-existent “Muthuvelu Subbaiah Iyer” as the first CM of Tamil Nadu in 1947.
Other books featured a picture of a Nandi sculpture falsely claiming it to be an archaeological find from Keezhadi, and misidentified the “Naladiyar”— a classical Tamil didactic poetic work from the post-Sangam era — as an individual “poet and philosopher,” the writer pointed out.
Books flagged by author Murugan go ‘missing’ from library within hours
Rebuffing Vijay’s corruption charges, DMK questioned the timing of the CM’s statement and asked who authorised the procurement of the books from the fake publishers that (it alleged) had June purchase stamps. Speaking to TNIE, Murugan, who was among the hundreds of government-appointed experts to recommend books on modern literature and literary criticism for the mammoth project, said,
“Around 1,800 Tamil books from ‘Agalvilakku Publications’ are placed on two racks on the library’s fourth floor. When I searched, it was mentioned that the publishing house was located at Madipakkam in Chennai, but no such publishing house was found there.”
“In particular, when I saw a 350-page book titled ‘Naladiyar Vaazhvin Vazhikatti’ written by one Surya Balu, it portrayed Naladiyar as a Tamil poet. This was shocking. Naladiyar is actually a collection of verses attributed to a group of Jain Tamil monks whose identities are unknown. There are several such errors and false information in many books, which suggest that they may have been AI-generated,” he said.
The writer also flagged the dubious-sounding names of the authors — Vijaya Balu, Vijaya Aathithan, Jothi Saravanan, Jothi Hariharan, and Trisha Vijay to name a few. When he looked up online the International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) printed on the books, he said he could find no matching records.
A 300-page Tamil book usually costs around Rs 350, he said. However, these books were priced much higher, with most costing over Rs 1,000, while not containing worthwhile information. “When newcomers study these books, they receive incorrect information.
Therefore, these books should be removed from there, and the English books should also be checked. A big scam has occurred at the core. The state government should conduct an inquiry and take legal action against those involved in the scam by forming an inquiry commission,” he urged.
When TNIE visited the library, books titled ‘Naladiyar Vaazhvin Vazhikatti’, ‘Tamil Nadu Paarvai’, and ‘Madurai Kanchi Oru Ilakkiya Payanam’ that Murugan had criticised were not there. Some readers said they searched for these books in the library after the allegations came to light, but could not find them. When asked, library officials said that they did not remove the books from the racks.
Book enthusiast K Sathish, who was at the library, said that when he scanned a few books by Agalvilakku Publishers using Google Lens to find their ISBNs, no results were shown. This did not happen with books by other publishers. Upon reading a few pages in the former’s books, he found them to be lacking meaningful information.
Speaking to TNIE, another member of the selection committee that Murugan was part of said that some committee members had not been involved in the book selection process despite their names being used. “Some members of the committee have been living abroad for the past several years.
While our names were used, we were not invited to all the meetings to select the books. In some cases, we signed off on the list of books selected, while in others, our signatures were obtained for books that had already been selected. We had no contact with the publication and did not receive any monetary benefits. We are also waiting for the truth to emerge on how this happened,” the member said.
RS Shanmugam, president of the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (Bapasi), told TNIE that special libraries in six districts — Coimbatore, Tenkasi, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Tiruchy, and Tiruppathur — had procured books independently through special orders. Clarifying that ‘Agalvilakku Publishers’ was not a Bapasi member, Shanmugam said the association had no information about the publisher.
“We have urged the state government to ensure that the investigation is conducted transparently,” he said. When TNIE visited the Agalvilakku Publishers’ office address in Brahmaputra street extension at Madipakkam, Chennai, there was no board suggesting a publishing house operated out of the residential building. However, occupants of the house who did not want to reveal their identity confirmed that the publishing house existed at the mentioned address and provided the owner’s phone number, which was unreachable.
School education minister A Rajmohan, who met the press in Chennai, said, “Following allegations of a scam, I checked with the officials. The book procurement process began in November 2025, and the tender process was held in January. We will order an inquiry into the matter, and legal action will be taken against those involved. It is condemnable that a scam was carried out in the name of Periyar.”