Phunchog Rai
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Phunchog Rai (born 19 February 1944; also spelled as 'Phuntsok Rai') is a politician from
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...
, India, and a member of the
Indian National Congress Party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
.


Personal life and education

Rai hails from village Lari in the
Spiti valley Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...
. He matriculated from the Government High School in Manali in 1965, and did graduation from
Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...
at
Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...
. The former IAS officer Deepak Sanan mentions Rai's father, Dorje Chhering, as an authority on the routes, water sources, and lifestyle of Spiti.


Political career

Rai served as an elected representative in the
Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The seat of the Assembly is at Shimla, the capital of the state. There are 68 Members of Legislative Assembly, al ...
from the Lahaul and Spiti assembly constituency from 1990 to 1998. In 1990, he was elected as an MLA, during the second tenure of
Shanta Kumar Shanta Kumar Sharma (born 12 September 1934) is an Indian politician who was the 3rd Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and a Union Minister in the Government of India. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was elected to the 9th ...
as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh (1990-1992). Rai was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1993, this time under the second tenure of
Virbhadra Singh Virbhadra Singh (; 23 June 19348 July 2021) was an Indian politician who served 6 terms and 21 years as the 4th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. A leader of the Indian National Congress party, he was elected 9 times as a Member of Legislati ...
as Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh (1993-1998). In this period, he served as a cabinet minister. As minister, Rai held two portfolios, those of Tribal Affairs and Health and Family Planning. In the 11th Legislative Assembly Elections of Himachal Pradesh held in 2007, Rai lost against Dr. Ram Lal Markanda for the Lahaul and Spiti seat.


Other works

* Rai has been on the Expert Advisory Committee for the development of Buddhist/Tibetan culture and art in the
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...
, Government of India. * In 1996, Rai was present as a minister at the 1,000th anniversary of the
Tabo monastery Tabo Monastery (or Tabo Chos-Khor Monastery) is located in the Tabo village of Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It was founded in 996 CE in the Tibetan year of the Fire Ape by the Tibetan Buddhist ''lotsawa'' (translator) Rinc ...
in Spiti, whereat the
14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
also delivered
Kalachakra ''Kālacakra'' () is a Polysemy, polysemic term in Vajrayana, Vajrayana Buddhism and Hinduism that means "wheel of time" or "time cycles". "''Kālacakra''" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practice lineage in History of ...
teachings and initiations. * Rai wrote the foreword to the book ''Tribal Melodies of Himachal Pradesh'' by Manorama Sharma (1998). * The 'Presidential Address' Rai delivered at a seminar on
petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s in the Spiti valley has been published in the book ''Rediscovering Spiti: a Historical and Archaeological Study'' (2017).


Electoral performance


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Phunchog Living people People from Lahaul and Spiti district Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1990–1992 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1993–1998 1944 births Indian National Congress politicians from Himachal Pradesh Panjab University alumni People from Punjab Province (British India)