Orwell's Indian birthplace to be a museum

The Times of London said Tuesday Orwell's former family bungalow in Bihar, one of the country's poorest and most densely populated states, has fallen into disrepair in recent years with stray animals finding shelter in it. Local authorities said they plan to fix the place up in hopes of attracting tourists.

"The house is in a dilapidated condition," Vivek Singh, Bihar's culture secretary, told the Press Trust of India. "The state government's priority is to protect the building. The process will take around three months. Given the importance attached to the house we will be more than willing to declare it a protected site."

Orwell, the author of the novels "Animal Farm" and "1984," was born in 1903 and died in 1950.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.