Union Bank faces heat for spending ₹7.25 crore to buy K.V. Subramanian's Book
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New Delhi: The Union Bank of India has found itself in a controversy for its decision to pre-order close to two lakh copies of a book penned by former chief economic advisor K.V. Subramanian, The Wire reported.
The bank shelled out a staggering Rs 7.25 crore to pre-order ‘India@100’ in order to distribute to ‘customers/local schools/colleges/library, etc’.
Having served as the Chief economic advisor, Subramanian was picked for the role of India’s nominee executive director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The government, however, called him back to the country six months prior to the end of his term.
It is reported citing The Indian Express that he was called back due to the ‘alleged impropriety’ in promoting the book alongside due to the allegation of having violated “internal IMF protocols”.
The decision to buy the book was communicated to the bank’s zonal heads in June and July 2024 well before the book was published in August 2024.
The bank’s support services department at its central office in a communique to the zonal heads said that the decision to buy and distribute the book across the country was taken by the ‘top management’, according to The Economic Times.
The breakdown of total spending says that 189,450 paperback copies were purchased at Rs 350 each, while 10,422 hardback copies at Rs 597 each, putting the total amount spent at Rs 7.25 crore, as per ET report.
ET further reported that “The office advice said the remainder of the payment should be made by the respective regional offices through ‘revenue budget available under ‘miscellaneous’ head’”.