Phunchog Rai

Phunchog Rai is a politician from Himachal Pradesh, India, and a member of the Indian National Congress Party.

Personal life and education

Rai hails from village Lari in the Spiti valley. 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.

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 Member of the [Legislative Assembly (India)|MLA], during the second tenure of Shanta Kumar as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.
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. 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.

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.
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.
Rai wrote the foreword to the book Tribal Melodies of Himachal Pradesh by Manorama Sharma.
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.