The whole concept of youth hostels was started in Germany in 1909 by Richard Schirrmann and it took 40 years for the ideas to reach fruition in the India. The Youth Hostel Movement had found its way into India before the partition of the country in 1947. The idea was introduced in early forties by the Boy Scouts and Girls Guides of India, Punjab Circle and the first Youth Hostel was formally opene
d at Tara Devi near Shimla on 9 June 1945 by H E Sir Bertrand Glancy, Chief Scout and Governor of the Punjab. In 1949, some enthusiasts in Mysore set up a Committee for promotion of the Movement. Three years later the Indian Association received Associate membership of IYHF. The first National Conference of the Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI) was held in 1956 in Delhi which marked the establishment of the movement on a national level. On 5 October 1970, National Youth Hostel Trust was created through a Resolution passed by the National Council of YHAI, a day earlier. As a result, a 120-bed Youth Hostel complex in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi with Administrative Offices came into existence. Later a Training Centre equipped with audiovisual aids and Recreation Centre with indoor games and library facilities were added. The Training Centre has since been approved by IYHF for training of international participants. The Plan for constructing youth hostels by YHAI was taken up and the first Youth Hostel built with its own resources on a donated piece of land was a small 35-bed youth hostel at Jagjit Nagar near Kasauli. An international camp of volunteers helped to construct its foundation. Gopalpur-on-Sea, Ganjam, Orissa was the next one built by YHAI in 1961. Some State Branches and Units are in the process of procuring land for construction of Youth Hostels. Ever since its inception it has been known as YHA using the abbreviation YHAI when necessary to distinguish it from other associations. As its charitable objective YHAI stated it as
