orwell birthplace - another tourist attraction

Orwell's birthplace to be saved

PATNA (India) - AFTER being neglected and forgotten for decades, the birthplace of George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm and 1984, is finally set for a makeover.

Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903 in Motihari, a tiny town in the impoverished eastern Indian state of Bihar, near the border with Nepal.

His father, Richard W. Blair, worked at the time as an agent in the opium department of the Indian Civil Service during the height of British rule over the subcontinent.

For years, the family's simple white colonial bungalow has been left to decay; damaged in an earthquake it was an occasional home to stray animals and, more recently, a state school teacher.

Now, after years of dithering and failed attempts by Orwell enthusiasts to restore the building, the provincial government says it is coming to the rescue in a bid to lure tourists to one of the most underdeveloped areas of India.

'The house has been in a bad condition for years. The government has decided to initiate work to protect it,' Bihar's art and culture secretary, Vivek Singh, told AFP. 'We will not allow George Orwell's ancestral house, where he was born, to be lost to history. The government priority is to protect it followed by renovation.'