The Tamil Nadu government will constitute a committee of writers and publishers by December to oversee the selection of books for public libraries and regulate procurement, School Education Minister A Rajmohan said.
The committee will have no political representatives and will also examine issues related to book selection and the allocation of stalls at book exhibitions. The government has identified at least 20 publications with irregularities, while more than 500 books with printing errors and other defects have been seized from Connemara Public Library in Chennai.
"This committee will work to regulate the procurement of books and prevent proxies or fake publications," Minister Rajmohan said.
The proposed panel comes amid a wider review of book purchases made for government libraries across Tamil Nadu. On Monday, the Minister said the government would cancel all book procurement orders placed so far, including those for the Kamarajar Grand Library, which is yet to be inaugurated in Tiruchy.
The state will consult scholars and the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) before framing a revised procurement policy. The government has also asked libraries across the state to identify books suspected to contain fabricated content or other irregularities and keep them separately for examination.
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) has begun a detailed inquiry into the alleged irregularities. Its officials have examined procurement records at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai and Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore. The inquiry will examine the selection process, pricing, payments and the role of publishers.
The controversy gained attention after writer Perumal Murugan, who was part of a book selection committee, raised concerns over the quality and authenticity of titles purchased for Periyar Arivulagam. He questioned factual errors in books on classical Tamil literature and the credentials of some authors and publishers.
The School Education Department has identified 523 books published by Agal Vilakku Publications at Connemara Public Library alone. More than 3,000 suspected AI-generated books were also reported at Periyar Arivulagam, according to the Minister. These figures are part of the allegations being examined and have not yet been established as findings of the vigilance inquiry.
Tamil Nadu introduced its Transparent Book Procurement Policy in 2024 to bring greater scrutiny to the selection and purchase of books for public libraries. The policy provides for an online application process, evaluation by subject experts, librarian and public reviews, and recommendations from readers' forums.
Under the existing system, publishers submit books for evaluation through the Directorate of Public Libraries' online portal. Selection is based on cumulative scores from expert, librarian and user reviews. Libraries then prepare purchase lists according to their budgets, with approval from their readers' forums.
The proposed committee and the revised procurement policy are expected to address concerns over the implementation of the existing system, including the verification of publishers, authorship, content quality and book prices.