Tamil Nadu School Education Minister A Rajmohan on Saturday reiterated that the previous DMK government was responsible for alleged irregularities in procuring books for 'Periyar Arivulagam' and other public libraries in the state and termed it "India's first AI scam". The opposition DMK denied the charges against its government for the alleged scam and demanded the TVK-led government release relevant records of the purchase.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Rajmohan accused the previous DMK regime of using Artificial Intelligence to generate low-quality, objectionable books under fabricated author names like 'Thamarai Murali', 'Kamalambal Karunanidhi' and 'Trisha Vijay'.
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"This is India's first artificial intelligence scam. The DMK has used AI to commit massive corruption in the Periyar library issue," he alleged.
The minister also alleged that orders for thousands of books from a single publisher, Agal Vilakku Pathippagam, were issued on February 14, mandating delivery within seven days. He alleged that the state treasury released payments in March, ahead of the election.
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"The content is completely machine-generated rubbish. For instance, the classical work Naaladiyar is described as an individual human philosopher," he said, demanding an "unconditional apology" from the DMK to the students and civil service aspirants of Tamil Nadu.
The state government has lodged a formal complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) and will form a special committee to probe similar procurements across multiple libraries, including the Kamarajar, Anna, and Kalaignar Centenary libraries, the Minister announced.
Hitting back strongly, DMK leader I Paranthamen dismissed the allegations as a "fake narrative" orchestrated by Chief Minister Joseph Vijay's government to mask its administrative failures.
"If there is an allegation that the books are of poor quality or wrong, why hasn't the government in power issued an order to immediately withdraw them from the shelves?" Paranthamen questioned in a press meet here on Saturday, criticising the minister for seeking political mileage through a DVAC complaint instead of taking departmental action.
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Challenging the state government to release official records rather than relying on social media campaigns by its IT wing, he said, "Let the government openly publish the online bank transactions, the purchase order dates, and the exact recommendations made by the expert committees."
The DMK leader pointed out that his party's government had introduced a transparent, online procurement policy via a Government Order in 2024 to regulate book purchases through dedicated expert panels.
Highlighting a critical timeline discrepancy, Paranthamen asserted that the controversial books received library stamps in June 2026, well after the DMK's tenure had ended, while books procured in March under their regime faced no such issues.
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Dismissing the claims regarding fictitious authors, Paranthamen mocked the idea that his party would approve books by authors named "Trisha Vijay" or "Sangeetha Vijay".
"The DMK is an intellectual movement... we do not do politics like them using half-baked, fake reels," he remarked, also pointing out spelling mistakes in the purported official letters being circulated online.
The controversy was initially brought to light by noted author Perumal Murugan, who served on the 137-member book selection committee.
While the government credited him as a whistleblower who exposed the scam, the DMK argued that even committee members like Murugan were entirely unaware of these fictitious titles, urging a transparent inquiry to find the real culprits.
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