False: Mysore earned the prestige of having set-up the first youth hostel in South Asia in 1949.

The Mission and story page on the Youth Hostels Association of India website repudiates the claim.The YHAI website states that the Youth Hostel movement had found its way into India before 1947 and the first youth hostel was formally opened at Tara Devi near Shimla on 9 June 1945 inaugurated by Bertrand Glancy, the Governor of Punjab. It is mentioned that in 1949 a group of enthusiasts in Mysore set up a Committee to promote the youth hostel movement in India.