India's first AI scam: TVK minister jabs DMK over multi-crore Periyar library fraud

Tamil Nadu School Education Minister A Rajmohan on Saturday accused the previous DMK government of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate poor-quality books and carry out large-scale corruption in the procurement of books for the Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore. Calling it "India's first AI scam", he claimed the irregularities extended beyond Coimbatore, with similar purchases planned for several public libraries across the state, involving Rs 50 crore for books and another Rs 5 crore for online books.Rajmohan said that thousands of books containing fabricated information and objectionable content were procured from a single publisher, Agal Vilakku Pathippagam, under the previous regime. He claimed that AI-generated content was passed off as books written by authors with fabricated names, including 'Thamarai Murali', 'Kamalambal Karunanidhi' and 'Trisha Vijay'.Addressing a press conference in Chennai, the minister said a purchase order was issued to the publisher on February 14, 2026, with instructions to deliver the books within seven days. He alleged that payments were released from the state treasury in March, ahead of the elections."Disgusting books that are not even worthy of being thrown into the dustbin, with absurd content," Rajmohan said, displaying a copy of the purchase order. He claimed that more than 40 boxes of books reached the Periyar library. As the facility was scheduled to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay, the books were placed on shelves and sealed, he said.Citing an example of the purportedly AI-generated content, Rajmohan said the classical Tamil work Naaladiyar had been described as an individual human philosopher, instead of a collection of verses attributed to Jain monks. "This is India's first artificial intelligence scam. The DMK has used AI to commit massive corruption in the Periyar library issue," he alleged, demanding an unconditional apology from the opposition party to students and civil service aspirants in Tamil Nadu.RAJMOHAN CLAIMS SCAM EXTENDS TO OTHER LIBRARIESThe minister said the procurement controversy was not restricted to the Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore. He claimed that similar purchases involving AI-generated books were planned for libraries in Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Cuddalore and Tirunelveli.He put the cost of the proposed procurement at Rs 50 crore for each library, besides Rs 5 crore for online books. He also questioned the process through which the purchases were cleared.According to Rajmohan, a committee meeting was held in November last year, followed by another meeting in January, in which 112 of the 137 members participated and approved the purchases. He claimed the approvals were secured under pressure from the DMK government.The Tamil Nadu government has lodged a formal complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) and will constitute a special committee to examine similar procurements across other libraries, including the Kamarajar, Anna and Kalaignar Centenary libraries, Rajmohan announced.HOW THE PERIYAR LIBRARY BOOK PROCUREMENT ROW STARTEDThe controversy first came to light after acclaimed Tamil writer Perumal Murugan, who was part of the 137-member book recommendation committee appointed by the previous DMK government, flagged irregularities in the procurement process in an article published on November 6.Murugan questioned the purchase of nearly 1,800 books from Agal Vilakku, a publisher unfamiliar to him despite his four decades in the literary field. He also raised concerns over the unusually high prices of several books, some reportedly costing Rs 1,400 or more.Among the examples he cited was Naladiyar Vaazhvin Vazhikaatu, priced at Rs 1,445. The book described Naladiyar as a Tamil poet and philosopher, although the classical work is a collection of verses attributed to Jain monks.Murugan also pointed to factual errors in other publications. A book titled Tamil Nadu Oru Paarvai, for instance, referred to a non-existent Muthuvelu Subbaiah Iyer as the state's first Chief Minister.He further questioned the procurement of books from Phoenix Publishers, some of which appeared to have been generated using AI and carried ISBN numbers that could not be verified. He also flagged discrepancies in pricing, claiming that books originally priced at around Rs 250 to Rs 300 were being sold to the library for more than Rs 1,500.The seven-storey Periyar Arivulagam library, spread across seven acres and constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 300 crore in Coimbatore, was conceived during the previous DMK government. Vijay inaugurated the facility on October 16.DMK REJECTS CHARGES, QUESTIONS PURCHASE TIMELINEThe DMK strongly rejected the accusations, with party leader I Paranthamen describing them as a "fake narrative" created by the Vijay-led government to divert attention from its administrative failures.Questioning why the government had not withdrawn the disputed books from library shelves if their content was objectionable, Paranthamen accused the minister of seeking political mileage through a DVAC complaint instead of taking immediate departmental action.He challenged the government to make the purchase records public, including online bank transactions, purchase order dates and recommendations made by the expert committees.Paranthamen said the DMK government had introduced an online procurement policy through a Government Order in 2024 to regulate book purchases with the help of dedicated expert panels.He also pointed to what he described as a discrepancy in the timeline, claiming that some of the disputed books carried library stamps from June 2026, after the DMK's tenure had ended. He questioned how the books could be attributed to purchases made under the previous government if they were stamped later.Dismissing the claims about fabricated author identities, the DMK leader questioned why his party would approve books attributed to names such as 'Trisha Vijay' or 'Sangeetha Vijay'. He also pointed to spelling mistakes in purported official letters circulating online and argued that even committee members, including Murugan, were unaware of the disputed titles.The DMK maintained that a transparent inquiry was necessary to identify those responsible for the procurement.The controversy has also drawn reactions from other political parties. BJP leader K Annamalai demanded an independent probe and sought the publication of purchase orders, invoices, delivery records and committee reports. Congress leader Manickam Tagore called for an audit of books procured by libraries across Tamil Nadu during the DMK regime.Other leaders, including Kamal Haasan, TTV Dhinakaran, Anbumani Ramadoss and Seeman, have also sought action and investigations into the reported irregularities.- Ends(With PTI inputs)