Phunchog Rai
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Phunchog Rai
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|2|19|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Lari village, Spiti valley, Himachal Pradesh, India
| office1 = Minister of Health and Family Planning, Government of Himachal Pradesh
(1993-98)
Minister of Tribal Affairs, Government of Himachal Pradesh
(1993-98)
MLA from Lahaul and Spiti assembly constituency
(1990-92)
| constituency1 = Lahaul and Spiti
| party = 20px Indian National Congress
| alma_mater = Punjab University
| occupation = Politician
| image = Phunchog Rai.jpg
}}
{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
Phunchog Rai (born 19 February 1944; also spelled as 'Phuntsok Rai
Personal life and education
Rai hails from village Lari in the Spiti valley.{{Cite web |date=25 October 2007 |title=Affidavit to be furnished by the candidate before the returning officer for election to the Vidhan Sabha |url=https://docs.myneta.info/affidavits/himachal07/122/PhunchogRai_SC1.jpg |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=myneta.info}}{{Cite journal |date=2020 |title=Preliminary Exploration at Lari Village: A Petroglyph Site in Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/64137203/12_SINGH%20&%20BHATT_KALAKALPA-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?Expires=1665523619&Signature=RKFBX99XsQLdnu6VA6p4Uz4-X9EdsXED76U0i3cx6DeqorON89NXK2a7nBAFpFpICvjwfvqFeU6iwQ8EPaUDcaztiyJsmwvIOw18K6TCpfpO5yRqLp6-2KpwA0cf0PWgfsfo18uvv~7Xrvp1LkxZnPfTLUWrSOj5NNH2EHlGMuZ0sXYjkZeW7oXVfL5JTntSC6i3hc9InQ3c1SZO4RQYvC8odVp2bzEqjWGefP0RMvBESOiGxISdu~KDpVURour8lF7qxgdtwjPLrOt50kH-9KVLgn9Fki1Nc0kMoR-OYCnrjQ3peq~0zgkvPaTI8JeINOc0CKuy5x8xYhRRKrubSQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA |journal=Kalakalpa |volume=V |issue=1 |pages=177}} He matriculated from the Government High School in Manali in 1965, and did graduation from Punjab University at Chandigarh. The former IAS officer Deepak Sanan mentions Rai's father, Dorje Chhering, as an authority on the routes, water sources, and lifestyle of Spiti.{{Cite book |last=Sanan |first=Deepak |title=Exploring Kinnaur and Spiti in the Trans-Himalaya |last2=Swadi |first2=Dhanu |publisher=Indus Publishing Company |year=1998 |location=New Delhi |pages=7}}
Political career
Rai served as an elected representative in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly 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 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 as Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh (1993-1998). In this period, he served as a cabinet minister.{{cite web |title=Election results |publisher=Election Commission of India, New Delhi |url= http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/electionanalysis/AE/S08/partycomp55.htm }} As minister, Rai held two portfolios, those of Tribal Affairs and Health and Family Planning.{{Cite book |last=Banach |first=Benti |title=A Village Called Self-Awareness, Life and Times in the Spiti Valley |publisher=Vajra Publications |year=2010 |location=Kathmandu |pages=94}}{{Cite news |date=24 May 2021 |title=Purv mantri ke ganv mein abhi bhi mobile signal nahi |work=Khabar Himachal |url=https://khabarhp.com/%e0%a4%aa%e0%a5%82%e0%a4%b0%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%b5-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a4%82%e0%a4%a4%e0%a5%8d%e0%a4%b0%e0%a5%80-%e0%a4%95%e0%a5%87-%e0%a4%97%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%82%e0%a4%b5-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a5%87%e0%a4%82-%e0%a4%86/ |access-date=11 October 2022}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Himachal Pradesh election results |url=https://ceohimachal.gov.in/CommonControls/ViewCMSFile?qs=KI3gZ53zz1wW9H2IggWkQt6AMp4fx4pdDgcoJeKb%2BBwmUnuqzkOW5snDCdAHtQjdG4TrAd1ibX2KZVcP%2Blvsec7hU%2BOdWi9GJ%2FN%2FzD6h1GJ6e9u3I%2BG1Cg%3D%3D}}
Other works
- Rai has been on the Expert Advisory Committee for the development of Buddhist/Tibetan culture and art in the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.{{Cite web |date=14 August 2013 |title=Expert Advisory Committee |url=https://www.indiaculture.nic.in/sites/default/files/Proactive-Disclosure/ITEM-VIII-(C)-2.pdf |access-date=11 October 2022}}
- In 1996, Rai was present as a minister at the 1,000th anniversary of the Tabo monastery in Spiti, whereat the 14th Dalai Lama also delivered Kalachakra teachings and initiations.{{Cite web |date=1996 |title=Per l 1000 anni del monastero di Taboo |url=http://www.sangye.it/articoli2012/1000taboo.pdf |url-status= |access-date=12 October 2022}}
- Rai wrote the foreword to the book Tribal Melodies of Himachal Pradesh by Manorama Sharma (1998).{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Manorma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDxa5G2S0AwC&dq=phunchog+rai&pg=PP13 |title=Tribal Melodies of Himachal Pradesh: Gaddi folk music |date=1998 |publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=978-81-7024-912-2 |language=en}}
- The 'Presidential Address' Rai delivered at a seminar on petroglyphs in the Spiti valley has been published in the book Rediscovering Spiti: a Historical and Archaeological Study (2017).{{Cite web |last=Service |first=Tribune News |title=A journey to Spiti and Sutlej biosphere |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/himachaltribune/vignettes-764161 |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=Tribuneindia News Service |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Chauhan |first=Hari |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-i8xQEACAAJ |title=Rediscovering Spiti: A Historical and Archaeological Study |date=2017 |publisher=Himachal State Museum, Department of Language & Culture, Himachal Pradesh |isbn=978-93-5279-899-5 |language=en}}
Electoral performance
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{{trim|{{#section-h:Lahaul and Spiti Assembly constituency|Assembly Election 1977}}}}