Union Bank of India has found itself in a difficult spot after its extravagant book shopping spree that cost it nearly Rs 7.25 crore, stated a report by Economic Times. The public sector lender has come under scanner for spending Rs 7.25 crore on nearly two lakh copies of a book before its release last year, intending to distribute them to “customers, local schools, colleges, libraries, and others”.
The book in question here was India@100: Envisioning Tomorrow’s Economic Powerhouse, by Krishnamurthy V Subramanian, India’s former chief economic adviser (CEA). Subramanian subsequently served as India’s nominee executive director at the International Monetary Fund, till the government prematurely terminated his tenure last week. Reports regarding his departure have pointed to alleged irregularities related to the promotion of his book as a contributing factor.
Subramanian had also been rumoured to be in the reckoning for a number of important roles since his stint as CEA. Economic Times reviewed two inter-office letters which were issued in June and July 2024 ahead of the book’s publication in August. The report maintained that the bank’s support services department at its central office has written to its 18 zonal heads, informing them of the decision by the “top management” to procure and distribute hard cover and paperback versions of the book among customers and corporates pan-India, as well as at local schools, colleges, libraries, et al.
The ET report confirmed that these letters conveyed the decision to purchase 189,450 copies (10,525 copies each by 18 zonal offices) of the paperback at Rs 350, and 10,422 copies of the hardcover at Rs 597. The order would cumulatively amount to Rs 7.25 crore.
The zonal offices were asked to further distribute the copies to the regional offices under them. However, ET said that it’s not clear if other orders for the central office or other establishments were also made.
ET tried reaching out to Union Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive A Manimekhalai and Chairman Srinivasan Varadarajan but they did not respond or give any comments.
Further, the ET report went on to say that when the office advice was sent, a 50 per cent advance for this purchase had already been paid to publisher, Rupa Publications and the remainder of the payment was to be made by the respective regional offices through “revenue budget available under ‘miscellaneous’ head.
Later, when this expenditure item (50 per cent advance to Rupa) was brought for ratification in a December board meeting of the Bank, its executive director, Nitesh Ranjan, who oversees marketing and publicity among other portfolios, said that he had not been informed about this purchase and declined to ratify the expenditure. The board questioned the authority of Girija Mishra, the general manager overseeing the support services department, to authorise this payment by himself. People aware of the developments told ET that Manimekhalai informed the board that she had asked Mishra to make the purchase, but not to break any rules. About a week later, on December 26 last year, she suspended him.
In January this year, the Union Bank had appointed KPMG to identify the lapses in this transaction. While the consultant submitted its report by end of the month, its conten is not known yet.