Periyar Arivulagam Books Row: Fact Check and Timeline

The short answerThe scam is real: about 2,000 badly made books at four times the normal price. The orders were placed while the DMK was in government. The books arrived and went on the shelves in June 2026, after TVK took over (both parties now say so), and part of the money was paid after the election. Neither side's "it was the other lot" story fully holds up, and the officials who chose and paid for these books have not been named.

Confirmed

The books are full of errors and heavily overpriced
The publisher is real on paper: 2,393 registered titles
Every title was registered before the 2026 election

Contested

Whether the purchase-order images are genuine
Who added these titles, when the writers say they didn't
Who released the payments after the election

Still missing

The committee's recommended list
Payment records: how much was paid, and when
The signed approvals and the officials behind them

How we got here

The library

Periyar Arivulagam is a ₹300 crore library and science centre in Gandhipuram, Coimbatore. The DMK government planned it in 2024, and M. K. Stalin laid the foundation stone on 6 November 2024. The government order gives this library alone ₹50 crore for books and e-books, plus ₹5 crore for technology. After TVK won the 2026 election, Chief Minister Vijay opened it on 16 October 2026.

Where it is

Dr Nanjappa Road, Gandhipuram, Coimbatore. Opposite the Gandhipuram Central Bus Stand, next to the Town Bus Stand.

Built on old prison-department land beside the Town Bus Stand. Opening hours have not been published.

A writer counts the books

On 6 November 2026, the novelist Perumal Murugan wrote that the fourth-floor Tamil section held about 1,800 books from one unknown publisher, Akal Vilakku Pathipagam. Most were around 300 pages and priced near ₹1,445, where a normal book costs about ₹350. They were full of basic mistakes. One calls the classic Naladiyar a single poet. Another credits Maduraikanchi to a 'king'. A third names a made-up first Chief Minister for 1947. The author names looked invented.

His essay blames no party. It asks who supplied these books and who was paid.

Both parties blame each other

Within hours, the TVK government said the books were bought in February 2026, under the DMK, and released photos of two purchase orders. The DMK replied that the photos are fake. It also said the bad books carry a library stamp dated 22 June, Vijay's birthday, which would mean they arrived under TVK.

What the national ISBN register shows

Every published book gets an ISBN number from a national agency. We checked that public register (isbn.gov.in). The minister said the ISBNs were "fake", but they are real registrations. The register lists 2,393 titles from Akal Vilakku, under 569 different author names, and not one has a cover uploaded. Hundreds of titles were registered in single days. The two biggest bursts are September 2025 and 2–6 February 2026, the same week the orders went out. A real publisher does not work this way. A business set up to fill a big library order does.

So who did it?

The ordering happened under the DMK. The order letters, a publisher who saw the process, a news report and the register all point to January–February 2026. That is before the election rules began on 15 March and well before TVK took office on 10 May.

The receiving and part of the paying happened under TVK. On this, the two sides now agree without meaning to. The DMK points to stamps dated 22 June and lists deliveries from 31 May to 22 August. TVK's own minister says the books came in about 40 batches, were shelved in June, and that pending payments were released after the election. The order said "deliver within 7 days". Nobody enforced that, and nobody stopped the payments.

The writers on the committee probably did not choose them. One member, Azhagiya Periyavan, says these titles were never on the recommended lists. Another member, S. Tamilselvan, says they recommended online and were never told what was bought. A selection committee member, Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail, says that for this library members were sent a blank sheet and asked to propose titles themselves, online, instead of checking a list the librarians had prepared, as they had for earlier libraries. He and two or three others withdrew. Those who stayed submitted signed lists. So a committee member could have proposed these titles, or officials could have added them later. Those signed lists would show which.

Reading the clues together

1. The books were made to fill the order. 743 Akal Vilakku titles were registered on 2–6 February 2026, a week before the orders of 13–14 February. Deliveries then took until June. That fits titles that existed only on paper when they were ordered, then written and printed to supply it.

2. The G.O. shows the path every book had to take. We found the order itself, G.O. No. 250 of 5 November 2025. It sets up four committees:

Recommendation: 137 writers and subject experts suggest titles.
Selection: 13 members turn those suggestions into a priority list.
Price negotiation: 5 library and finance officials fix the prices.
High-level: 5 senior officials give final approval.

The writers say these titles were never on their lists, so they entered later in that chain.

3. Jeyaranjan headed the selection list, not the final approval. The G.O. names Dr J. Jeyaranjan first on the 13-member selection committee, with Planning Commission member Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail. These are the six people Dinamalar listed. The other members include historian A. R. Venkatachalapathy, writer S. Balabharathi and retired IAS officer R. Sudhan. That fits the minister's claim that Jeyaranjan signed the list the title appears on.

The test: recommendation committee members say they never recommended these books. If the selection list Jeyaranjan signed does include Akal Vilakku titles, they were added between recommendation and selection. If it does not, they were added after selection, at the final-approval or ordering stage run by officials. Publishing that one signed list would settle which. Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail adds that every member who stayed submitted a list with their signature, and that the library holds them. So the test is simple: check whose list, if anyone's, has these titles. The high-level committee, which gave final approval, has no named individuals. It is five posts: the Principal Secretary of School Education (chair), the Director of Public Libraries (member-secretary), the Finance Department's Special Secretary for education, the Tamil Development Secretary and the head of the Textbook Corporation.

3b. One office sits at every step. The Director of Public Libraries coordinates all the committees, is member-secretary of the final-approval committee, and issued the purchase orders. Whoever held that post in early 2026 is the person most able to explain how these titles got in. They have not been named or spoken publicly. On 8 November the government took the post back from Jayanthi IAS, who held it as an additional charge, and gave it to Shajeevana IAS. The reports don't say whether Jayanthi held it in February.

3c. These books could not pass the G.O.'s own rules. The G.O. says titles should come from best-book lists, reviews, university reading lists, award lists and publishers' catalogues. Books with no covers, sold nowhere, by unknown authors could only have come in through the publishers'-catalogue route. Publisher Ko. Olivannan points to a 2024 Madurai Bench ruling that says libraries must post the selected titles and covers online and take objections. If that was done for this order, the list is already public somewhere. If it wasn't, a court-ordered step was skipped. He also notes the rush: books for these new libraries were bought only months before they opened, so suppliers sent whatever stock they had.

4. Other libraries are probably affected. The same G.O. covers ten other new libraries: special libraries in Trichy, Salem, Cuddalore and Tirunelveli, and six district libraries. If the same suppliers were used, the same books are likely there too. The government's new inspection committee is looking at Trichy and Salem first. One earlier library is already named: researchers say thousands of Phoenix books are in Madurai's Kalaignar Centenary Library, opened in 2023.

5. The money moved before the books did. The minister says the treasury released money on 14 March, the day before the election rules began. Both sides say the books were shelved and stamped in June, and the DMK says other publishers' books carry March stamps. If the books really arrived in June, part of the money was paid under the DMK before the books were in the library, and the rest was paid under TVK after the election. Either way, both governments paid. The delivery receipts would settle it, and the DMK's own complaint asks for exactly those dates.

About "Vijay" and "Trisha" in the author names: only 24 of the 2,393 titles have "Vijay" in the author name (some are ordinary names like Vijayalakshmi), and one has "Trisha". The "Trisha Vijay" book was registered on 19 September 2025, eight months before TVK took office. Funny as they are, the names cannot tell us who bought the books.

What would settle this

Publish the writers' recommended list, and check whether any Akal Vilakku title was on it.
Produce the Directorate's file 7781/E1/2025: the signed order, who signed it, and the dispatch register. This also settles whether the photos are genuine.
Release the delivery receipts, the library's stock register and the payment vouchers, with dates. These show who received the books and who paid.
Name the owner of Akal Vilakku and the bank account that was paid.
Check whether the same publishers supplied other libraries. The minister's complaint to the anti-corruption police asks for this.

Anyone can ask for most of these documents under the RTI Act from the Directorate of Public Libraries, Chennai.

What happened when

Newest first, back to the first plan in 2024. Each item says where it comes from: an official record, a news report, or a party's claim.

The row breaks
8 Nov, about 1:30 pm
Selection committee member: "they sent us a blank sheet, so I withdrew"
In an interview with The Debate, Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail says the Periyar selection was done only online, with no full meeting. The Anna Centenary Library's chief librarian's office sent the G.O. and a blank Google Sheet, asking members to propose titles instead of checking a prepared list. He withdrew at a Zoom meeting with two or three others. Those who stayed submitted signed lists, which he says the library holds. This matches S. Tamilselvan's account of online-only work and adds a way to check it.
8 Nov, 9:28 am
Director of Public Libraries replaced: Jayanthi IAS out, Shajeevana IAS in
Two papers report that the government has taken the post back from Jayanthi IAS, who held it as an additional charge alongside her main job as chair of the Teachers Recruitment Board, where she stays. Shajeevana IAS is the new Director. No order number or reason is given, and the reports do not say when the outgoing officer took the post. So this does not tell us who held the post when the books were ordered in February. Moving an officer is not a finding against them. This is the office that coordinates every committee and issued the orders.
8 Nov, 7:12 am
Report: anti-corruption police may question a senior library official
Oneindia, citing unnamed writers and publishers, says a senior woman official at the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai, appointed under the DMK, handled key purchase decisions, and that the anti-corruption police plan to question her. She is not named and no record is cited. Treat it as a lead, not a finding.
8 Nov, early
Our check of the ISBN register and the order photos
2,393 titles confirmed. The order photos are consistent but unproven. See The documents.
7 Nov, 8:31 pm
Owner: "I run Akal Vilakku, Phoenix and Sigma; I supplied ₹17 lakh of books"
"Mohan", reported owner told ETV Bharat that he supplied ₹17 lakh of books to the library and made a profit of ₹1.7 lakh. This matches the minister's figure. The DMK's Paranthaman says the DMK never bought from Sigma and that it all happened in June, under TVK.
7 Nov, 6:58 pm
1,500 to 2,000 books taken off the shelves
On the minister's word, Akal Vilakku and Phoenix books were removed, two racks were emptied, and the books were packed in a separate room. Nakkheeran says more than 1,500; Oneindia's reporter says more than 2,000. No official count yet.
7 Nov, 6:34 pm
Committee member: "we were never told what was bought"
Writer S. Tamilselvan says the recommendation committee met about once; members then recommended titles online and never saw the final purchase list.
7 Nov, 6:19 pm
DMK files its own complaint with the anti-corruption police
The DMK legal wing (advocate Parandhaman) asks the anti-corruption police eight questions (DT Next counts nine): who issued the orders and signed the file, the order dates, whether the committees approved, whether the named authors exist, delivery dates and checks, and the dates and amounts paid to each publisher. Both parties have now gone to the same investigators. At a press meet the same day, he said the problem is only the June-stamped books, not those bought before March, and asked the government to publish the committee's recommendations and orders. Yet he also said the minister should hold a departmental inquiry instead of going to the anti-corruption police, the same body the DMK had just complained to.
7 Nov, 5:23 pm
Government sets up a special committee to check other libraries
It will look for similar books in other government libraries; Trichy and Salem are named. The books stay where they are as evidence, and the money is to be recovered. No members or deadline announced.
7 Nov, 5:23 pm
Minister: part of the money was paid after the election
Minister Rajmohan Arumugam said payments were made in March 2026 and the pending amounts were released after the election. That would put some of the payment under TVK. He also said Dr J. Jeyaranjan signed documents in the process. No documents shown yet.
7 Nov, 5:19 pm
Minister shows papers: order 14 Feb, money released 14 March
At a press meet, Rajmohan Arumugam said he had the 14 February order and the email that sent it, and a treasury release dated 14 March, the day before the election rules began. He said the books came in 40-plus boxes and were shelved and stamped in June, put this order at ₹17 lakh, and said the title is at serial number 3481 on the selection list, which carries the signature of the official responsible. He called it "India's first AI scam". The documents have not been published.
7 Nov, 2:40 pm
Researchers: Phoenix books are in Madurai's Kalaignar library too
PhD researchers Premkumar and Satheeshkumar say thousands of Phoenix books are in the Kalaignar Centenary Library in Madurai, opened under the DMK in 2023. They say ISBNs for 1,000 Phoenix books were taken out in the name "Thenmozhi", that Phoenix and Akal Vilakku share an address, and that the ISBNs are real. They say they will give their documents to the minister.
7 Nov, 1:12 pm
Writers and students protest at Gandhipuram
The Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association, students and others demand the books be removed and those responsible named.
7 Nov, 12:46 pm
Udhayanidhi Stalin: "we are ready for a proper inquiry"
The Leader of the Opposition says it is "100% unlikely" that the purchases under the DMK were irregular, and that the authors' names point to TVK's time in office.
7 Nov, 9:19 am
Minister: "Jeyaranjan signed the recommendation for the Akal Vilakku books"
At a press meet in Chennai, Rajmohan Arumugam called it "India's first AI scam", said Jeyaranjan signed the recommendation to buy the books, and said the treasury paid Akal Vilakku in March. No document or amount shown. Trichy's library is also named.
7 Nov, morning
ISBNs found to be real; committee member says the books were never recommended
7 Nov, morning
Reported owner 'Mohan' blames a 'printing error'
6 Nov, 10 pm
Minister files complaint with the anti-corruption police
6 Nov
Reporters find Akal Vilakku's address: an unsigned flat in Madipakkam
6 Nov, 7:04 pm
Minister Vanni Arasu: "the tender from the last government is the cause"
He said he would speak to Rajmohan Arumugam and that an inquiry would come soon. No documents shown.
6 Nov, 5:48 pm
DMK posts a list of dates and asks for the records
The DMK's IT wing lists: ministers inspecting the unfinished building on 31 May and 7 June, the 22 June stamp, a news report of shelving on 20 July, and a report of 80,000 books ready on 22 August. These are visits and news reports, not delivery records. It asks for the order date, the full recommended list, and the date and amount of every payment to each publisher.
6 Nov, 5:15 pm
Writers online: books stamped March, Akal Vilakku books stamped June
Not only the DMK: writers on social media say the library stamped some books in March and that every June-stamped book is an Akal Vilakku book. They suggest the titles were added after the selection committee had sent its list, once the election was announced. No stamp photos or records were shown.
6 Nov, evening
DMK: the photos are fake (no seal, no signature)
6 Nov, 4:34 pm
TVK's social media team posts the two order photos
6 Nov, 3:29 pm
DMK's official account posts photos of "Vijay" author names
The DMK's verified account @arivalayam replied with a photo of Akal Vilakku books by "Vijay Balu", "Vijay Selvam", "Vijaya Aadhithan" and "Sumega Vijay". This is where the author-names argument started.
6 Nov, 3:13 pm
Dinamalar publishes six names on the book committee
Led by the State Planning Commission's Vice-Chairman Dr J. Jeyaranjan and member Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail. It also lists the five committees set up by the G.O. of 5 November 2025 and the eleven libraries it covers.
6 Nov, 1:48 pm
CM C. Joseph Vijay blames the DMK on X
6 Nov, 10:43 am
DMK: the fake books are stamped June, so they came under TVK
6 Nov, 9:58 am
Calls for an independent probe, from left and right
The CPI(M)'s P. Shanmugam asks for a special investigation team and a committee of Tamil scholars, and wants to know who recommended and who approved the books. Annamalai asks for the committee's list, the purchase orders, invoices and delivery records to be made public. VCK leader Thirumavalavan later asks for an inquiry commission covering all public libraries.
6 Nov, morning
Minister Rajmohan Arumugam: 'bought in February under the DMK', 'ISBNs are fake'
6 Nov, 6 am
Perumal Murugan publishes his essay
About 1,800 books, basic errors, ₹1,445 against ₹350. No party blamed.
2 Nov
Background: the DMK and the minister were already fighting
Four days before the row, the DMK legal wing (I. Paranthaman) asked the anti-corruption police to act against Minister Rajmohan Arumugam in an unrelated matter, a ₹5 crore bribe offer he had spoken about. The books row itself was started by a writer, not by either party.
Under the TVK government
4 Nov 2026
M. K. Stalin visits the library
16 Oct 2026
C. Joseph Vijay opens Periyar Arivulagam
Sep 2026
Committee writers finally paid
22 Jun 2026
Akal Vilakku and Phoenix books stamped '22 June', Vijay's birthday
A DMK claim; no independent photo yet. That would be four months past the 7-day deadline.
10 May 2026
C. Joseph Vijay sworn in as Chief Minister
Election
4 May 2026
Results: TVK wins
23 Apr 2026
Polling day
March
Books from proper publishers stamped 'March' by the library
According to the DMK.
15 Mar 2026
Election announced; election rules take effect
Planning, under the DMK government
13–14 Feb 2026
Orders to Phoenix (13 Feb) and Akal Vilakku (14 Feb), as shown in TVK's photos
"Deliver within 7 days." Day handwritten, month typed. The DMK says the photos are fake.
2–6 Feb 2026
743 more Akal Vilakku titles registered in five days
9 Jan 2026
Book selection meeting
5 Nov 2025
G.O. No. 250 sets up the book committees
₹50 crore for books at this library. Four committees: recommendation (137), selection (13), price negotiation (5) and final approval (5 senior officials). The order letters later cite this G.O. as 5 December.
Sep 2025
1,157 Akal Vilakku titles registered in two weeks
Including the 'Trisha Vijay' book (19 Sep). TVK was not yet in power.
Apr–May 2025
The Naladiyar, Maduraikanchi and 'Tamilnadu Oru Paarvai' books are registered
Dec 2024
Akal Vilakku Pathipagam's first 100 titles appear in the ISBN register
One month after the foundation stone. No earlier history.
6 Nov 2024
M. K. Stalin lays the foundation stone
11 Mar 2024
New book-buying rules launched by Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi
Online applications, price limits, no face-to-face bargaining.
Feb 2024
State budget announces a ₹300 crore library for Coimbatore

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Fact check

The main claims being made, who is making them, and what the evidence actually shows.

Confirmed

The library bought around 2,000 junk books at about four times the normal price.

Said by Perumal Murugan, writer A. K. Kareem, reporters. Not denied by any party.

Several people counted the books on separate visits. The DMK's own statement calls them "fake books". The mistakes are easy to check against any standard reference.

Doesn't hold up

The ISBN numbers on these books are fake.

Said by Minister Rajmohan Arumugam

No. The national ISBN register lists all 2,393 titles, including every book named in the row.

The real problem is the scale: 569 author names, no covers, and hundreds of titles registered in a single day.

The DMK's complaint to the anti-corruption police makes the opposite mistake: it says the books came without ISBNs. The register shows they had them. Both sides are wrong on this point.

Very likely

Akal Vilakku was set up just to sell books to government libraries.

Said by Perumal Murugan, A. K. Kareem

The evidence fits. Its first titles appeared a month after the library's foundation stone. It has no shop listings and works from an unsigned flat. Its big bursts of titles match the library timeline, and a journalist says books published under his name are not his.

The owner, a man named Mohan, says he also runs Phoenix and a third imprint, Sigma. Splitting one supplier into several names is a common way to get past limits on how much one publisher can sell. Still not known: whether the books were written with AI.

Very likely

The books were ordered in February 2026, under the DMK government.

Said by TVK, Minister Rajmohan Arumugam, CM C. Joseph Vijay

Several separate sources agree: the order letters (13–14 Feb), publisher Kannan Sundaram (orders in Jan–Feb), The Week (2 Feb), the February burst in the register, and the reported owner's "contract last year".

The order photos themselves are not proven genuine. See The documents. Even without them, the February timing holds.

Contested

The books were bought under TVK. Look at the June 22 stamp.

Said by DMK, Govi. Chezhiaan, P. K. Sekar Babu

Half right. A library stamp shows when the library received and processed a book, not when it was ordered. The ordering was in February, under the DMK. But the June arrival is no longer just the DMK's word: TVK's own minister says the books were shelved in June and some payments were released after the election.

So the books were ordered under the DMK and received, shelved and partly paid for under TVK. No independent photo of the stamps has been published yet.

Doesn't hold up

Author names like "Vijay" and "Trisha" show this happened under Vijay's government.

Said by The DMK's official X account, and supporters

Only 24 of 2,393 titles have "Vijay" in the author name. The "Trisha Vijay" book was registered in September 2025, and every title was registered by February 2026, before TVK came to power.

Doesn't hold up

The books were slipped in while the Election Commission was running the state.

Said by Unnamed writers quoted by Oneindia

The dates don't fit. Election rules ran from 15 March to 4 May 2026. The orders came before that, and the June stamps after.

Contested

The purchase-order photos released by TVK are fake.

Said by DMK

Not proven either way. The format, the office address and the file number look right. The missing signature is explained by only page 1 being shown. But the dates are filled in by hand, and the supplier address doesn't match the books.

Only the Directorate's original file can settle this. See The documents.

Very likely

The writers' committee never recommended these books; they were added later.

Said by Azhagiya Periyavan

Two committee members say so, and Kannan Sundaram says the purchase skipped the normal online system. That points to the selection and price committees and the Directorate's officials.

This can't be confirmed until the recommended list is released.

No proof yet

A third publisher, Udhayasuriyan, was involved, and the money went to a DMK "party fund".

Said by Minister Minister Arunraj

Only one person has said this, and no document has been shown.

Doesn't hold up

Crores of rupees were stolen.

Said by Several politicians

Not at this library, on the government's own numbers. Minister Rajmohan Arumugam, who is accusing the DMK, puts this order at ₹17 lakh. At list price, about 2,000 books at about ₹1,450 would be roughly ₹29 lakh. ETV Bharat, without naming its source, says about ₹20 crore of the library's ₹50 crore book budget was spent and up to ₹10 lakh went to Akal Vilakku. Crores would only be possible if the same suppliers sold to many other libraries, which the new inspection committee is now checking.

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Sources & data

Download everything as one zip file: the full data (JSON), spreadsheets you can open in Excel or Google Sheets (timeline, fact check, people and connections, sources, ISBN counts), and the two order photos.

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