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