The sacred text (Sutra) of Taittiriya Upanishad – “YUVA SWAT, SADHU YUVA ADHYAYIK, ASHISTHO, DRADHISTHO, BALISHTAH” had a profound effect on the life of our beloved Bhai ji (Late S. N. Subba Rao). Giving the example of this sutra, Bhai ji always used to say that ‘be young, well natured, intelligent enough to teach, hopeful, optimistic nor pessimistic, healthy enough to eat and digest everything, strong bodies as well as strong-willed.

The National Youth Project emerged from the peace building and youth process in the Chambal valley of Madhya Pradesh. In the year 1970, some youth workers met at the Mahatma Gandhi Seva Ashram at Joura, a small town in the once dacoit affected Chambal Valley in Madhya Pradesh. As most of the dreaded dacoits took to their wretched life in their youth, the Chambal area was selected for the meeting so as to divert the youth’s energy for constructive work. (The Ashram had played host to hundreds of notorious dacoits (bandits) surrendering to Gandhian principles). A series of youth camp organized nearby the Joura in ravines before the dacoits surrender and during their rehabilitation program. Meanwhile, the consensus was, that the one force that can help build an India free from these shortcomings is the youth of the country. Hence the need for a National Youth Movement that is free from religious, linguistic, regional bias and from prejudices of political ideologies.