MOTIHARI: The birthplace of famous British author, George Orwell, is in the eye of a storm. While Brajnandan Rai, a schoolteacher in Motihari town, claims that the house had been registered in his name, Prakash Asthana, chairman of Motihari Nagar Parisad, said a probe revealed that the building in Mascot Locality where Orwell was born is registered with the parishad in the name of the hostel superintendent of Gopal Sah High School since 1970.
Asthana said Rai is a teacher in Gopalsah High School and his holding no. 336 is actually that of his residence at Gandhinagar locality.
Nagar parishad executive officer Rajendra Mandal said he would examine under what circumstances the holding number of the house where Orwell was born was allotted to the schoolteacher.
Orwell, whose book Animal Farm’ made him stand out among the great novelists, was born in Motihari on June 25, 1903. His father R W Blair was deputy magistrate in-charge of a British-owned opium warehouse. Orwell was taken to England in 1904 by his mother Ida Mabel Blair for proper education.
After 108 years of George Orwell’s birth, the Bihar government declared his birthplace as a protected site and heritage centre under the Bihar Ancient Monument (Protection) Act, 1976. Chief minister Nitish Kumar had allocated Rs 29 lakh for the construction of a fence around the protected site spread over 2.48 acres at Mascot locality. Fencing work around the decrepit tiled house in which Orwell was born has already been completed.
The house located on a 2.48 acre land was leased out by the state government to Gopal Sah High School for hundred years. The lease period has already expired. Thereafter, the government took possession of the land and handed it over to PWD, Motihari, for its godown. Despite this, Rai who teaches English at Gopal Sah High School, has been occupying the house for the last 15 years.
Rai said he had not been asked by anyone to vacate the house though the BDO, SDO and DM have visited this site many times. The district magistrate was not available for comment.