SRINAGAR: Three major youth hostels in Jammu and Kashmir, including the Srinagar youth hostel established in 1960, are classified as non-functional under the Centre’s Youth Hostel Scheme, part of a wider national problem in which 35 hostels across the country remain out of service, parliamentary records show.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports told the Lok Sabha that the Srinagar hostel, the Patnitop facility in Udhampur and the Nagrota hostel are listed as non-functional; the Srinagar building dates back more than six decades and is explicitly described as dilapidated or repurposed in official annexures. At the same time the ministry confirmed that no new youth hostels have been constructed under the scheme in the last five years and that only 18 existing hostels nationwide received central funds for repair, renovation or upgradation during that period. None of the 18 repair grants were for hostels in Jammu and Kashmir.
Functional hostels recorded an average occupancy of just over 53 per cent in the recent three-year period, and more than 3,500 youth programmes claimed to have benefited roughly 350,000 young people. Yet the list of hostel managers maintained by the Ministry omits any regular managers for Jammu and Kashmir hostels, signalling an administrative gap that helps explain why historic facilities remain closed.
Officials say dilapidation and alternative use of buildings are the primary reasons hostels have been shut, yet the parliamentary dossier offers no timeline for bringing the Jammu and Kashmir hostels back into service.
