“It Was Due To A Clerical Error”

Saibal Gupta, director of the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), is the publisher of the book ‘Special Category Status: A case for Bihar’, ostensibly by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. The book is, in fact, a copy of a paper submitted by a JNU student. Gupta spoke to Outlook:

The book brought out by you looks suspiciously similar to the work of a JNU student...

You have to remember that this work was given to us by the Bihar government, and Atul Kumar Singh (the JNU researcher) was one among the many who contributed to it. He was appointed assistant professor at the Centre for Economic Policy and Public Finance, a sister concern of ADRI.

How did the Bihar chief minister become the author of the book?

You have to remember that this was not an academic exercise. This was advocacy material for Bihar. We could have got maximum leverage if the name of the chief minister was associated with this. Let me assure you that Nitish Kumar is not interested in stealing the thunder from Atul. He has no academic pretensions. If he really wants to write a book, he can get the best minds to help him. This advocacy material was primarily done because elections are due this year. At no stage was it said that Nitish authored the book.

You sent out an invitation which said Nitish Kumar was the author of the book, which was subsequently released by Lord Meghnad Desai at a public function?

I think it was due to a clerical error. Some data collection officer must have erroneously assumed that the chief minister was the author of the book and sent out the invites accordingly.

If that is the case, how come the chief minister makes an entry as an author in the introduction of the book?

I don’t know which version you have. There are two versions of the book. Please check the final version.