Library books procurement scam hits Tenkasi District Central Library too

The library book procurement scam that has rocked the State has not spared the Tenkasi District Central Library too as nearly 2,300 AI-generated books, costing ₹27 lakh, have reportedly been procured for the library, as per an audit done by the officials.

The foundation stone for the library was laid on December 4, 2023, near ICE Eswaran Pillai Government Boys’ Higher Secondary School, and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the facility on October 29, 2025.

As the erstwhile State government, led by Mr. Stalin, started procuring books for the library in December last, these dubious books had also been purchased, sources in the Department of Library said.

After the large-scale procurement of exorbitantly overpriced inferior quality books, mostly AI-generated, for public libraries came to light recently, an internal audit was conducted in the Tenkasi library. The audit has reportedly unearthed purchase of 2,293 such books at a cost of ₹27 lakh.

The AI-generated books have been supplied by ‘Agal Vilakku’ and Phoenix Publishers.

These books have been authored by unknown writers, including Nivetha Anbazhagan, Nivetha Subbaiah, Manisha Saravanan, Manisha Akash, Manisha Subramanian, Manisha Arjun, Mohana Ravi, Mohana Paulraj, Kala Murugan, Thamarai Panneer, Risdevan Mahendran, Anusha Dhanush and Surya Anushka.

“All the 2,293 books under question have been kept in a separate room to facilitate further inquiry,” said the sources.