Governor Kalraj Mishra biography launch: No function in advertising, says Raj Bhavan after controversy

The Rajasthan Raj Bhavan on Sunday has denied any function in advertising Governor Kalraj Mishra’s biography, titled Nimitt Maatra Hoon Main (I’m only a medium), after The Sunday Express reported that vice-chancellors of 27 state universities who attended the e-book launch got 19 copies of the e-book and a invoice of Rs 68,383 together with a free copy.
“Some news has been circulating regarding the marketing of the book ‘Kalraj Mishra – Nimitt Maatra Hoon Main’, which was released at the Raj Bhavan on July 1. This is primarily personal information between the publisher IIME, the research institute and the buyer. The publisher had published the book and sought permission to release it in the Raj Bhavan, which was given to him. But Raj Bhavan has no role, any affiliation in the business activities of marketing the book,” Rajasthan Raj Bhavan mentioned in a collection of tweets.

1 जुलाई को राजभवन में लोकार्पित ‘कलराज मिश्र-निमित्त मात्र हूं मैं’ पुस्तक के विपणन के संबंध में कतिपय समाचार प्रसारित हुए है। यह मुख्य रूप से प्रकाशक आईआईएमई, शोध संस्थान और खरीदने वाले के मध्य की निजी जानकारियां हैं। 1/2
— Raj Bhavan Rajasthan (@RajBhavanJaipur) July 4, 2021

On July 1, two cartons of books had been loaded in V-Cs’ autos and the payments had been handed over their drivers of after the launch social gathering. While the invoice given to them listed 5 titles, the cartons solely contained copies of the biography. The invoice, accessed by this newspaper, confirmed the 19 books had been charged at Rs 3,999 every, which provides as much as Rs 75,981. After a reduction of 10 per cent, the full involves Rs 68,383.
“In the meeting with the Governor, someone took the names and numbers of our drivers. We thought it was perhaps to give them food and water,” a V-C, who didn’t want to be named, had instructed The Sunday Express, expressing shock at how the entire thing was performed.

The biography, which has been co-authored by Mishra’s long-standing OSD Govind Ram Jaiswal, states that proceeds from the gross sales will likely be spent on analysis tasks on Rajasthan and social science, and won’t be utilized by any particular person for private acquire.
The payments to the V-Cs give the checking account particulars of the International Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (IIME), Jaipur, implying that or not it’s paid for the copies. The co-author with the Governor’s OSD of the biography is Dr D Okay Taknet, who has been related to the IIME since lengthy. The “lead researcher” on the e-book is Taknet’s spouse Sujata Taknet, who can be related to the IIME.
Mishra’s biography had been launched by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and amongst these current had been Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who’s an MP from Rajasthan, and Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi.