Jean Drèze urges T.N. govt. to take strict action amid report of ‘fake book’ at Kalaignar Centenary Library

Economist Jean Drèze on Sunday (November 8, 2026) said an English-language book attributed to him as the author and allegedly found in some public libraries of Tamil Nadu is “fake”. The confirmation comes following a media report alleging that a title listed in Madurai’s Kalaignar Centenary Library may not have been authored by Mr. Drèze.

The book which lists him as the author was identified as the title ‘Democracy and Peoples Right in the Contemporary World’’. “I am foxed and baffled to read on social media that a book called Democracy and Peoples Right in the Contemporary World, attributed to me, has surfaced in some public libraries of Tamil Nadu. If this book exists under my name, it must be fake, because I have never authored such a book,” he wrote in a clarification issued to The Hindu via e-mail.

Mr. Drèze urged the Tamil Nadu government to take “strict and swift action against the publishers of this fake book and other culprits”. “It is important to stem the rot before it spreads, all the more so if this book was AI-generated,” he added.