YHAI to set up 200 hostels in India

Aizawl, Sep 8 (UNI) The Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI) has planned to have at least 200 hostels in the country by the next ten years through licensee hostels.

While disclosing this to the media, the chairman of YHAI Dr Harish K Saxena today said, ''China and India are emerging as main tourist destinations in the next decade. With this in view, the Youth Hostel Association of India has planned to have at least 200 hostels to meet the demand through license holders.'' At present, India has only 38 hostels under license holders although the total number of youth hostels is 115. Of these, 72 are government youth hostels while five are directly run by YHAI.

Dr Saxena said it coincided with the youth hostel movement since the movement was started by a school teacher called Richard Shirrmann in Germany in 1912 with the concept that cheap accommodation should be available to students.

The movement now has expanded to 80 countries in all the seven continents with 4200 hostels in these countries.

Dr Saxena, also talking about the standards required to be maintained, said the Government of India is drawing up a policy of standardising government hostels in the country.

Dr Saxena is the first Asian and Indian to become the president of IYHF which had been the exclusive domain of Europeans in the past. In the last elections of Federation, Saxena had snatched the post from a French and Australian candidate with a margin of only four voting points. His tenure as Chairman, YHAI, is also the third time.

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