George Orwell museum to come up in Bihar

Patna: Millennium writer George Orwell's birth place at Motihari in Bihar's East Champaran district would soon be turned into a full-fledged museum.Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Orwell's birth place, the decrepit two-room house on the old opium campus would be preserved for tourists.The Bihar government had earlier decided to declare the house as a 'Protected Site'. Kumar said he has asked the arts and culture department officials to prepare a restoration and development project of the seven-acre campus of the opium warehouse where Eric Arthur Blair, popularly known as George Orwell, was born in 1903.[caption id="attachment_285107" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Palestinian actors perform the play "Animal Farm" at the Freedom Theatre in Jenin refugee camp. Reuters"][/caption]His father Richard W Blair worked for the opium department during the British rule.Orwell was taken to England by his mother Ida when he was one-year-old. Orwell then  went on to pen some of last century's best dystopian novels 1984 and'Animal Farm."The house is in a dilapidated condition. The state government's priority is to protect the building and other development works would follow later," Art And Culture Department officials said.A detailed report about the history of the house, its present condition and land records had been sought from the district administration. A team of experts would be sent to Motihari to assess the situation from archaeological point of view, they said."The department would initiate the process of declaring Orwell's house a Protected Site in accordance with the provisions of Bihar Ancient Monument (Protection) Act of 1976.PTI