Remembering Vidya Stokes: 96 and flourishing Legacy
Shimla, Dec 9
Congress veteran leader Vidya Stokes turned 96 today, having been born on December 8, 1927. Stokes retired from public life in 2017, choosing not to be in the fray. She earned a great reputation in public life, thanks to her illustrious background as the daughter-in-law of the Satyanand Stokes Family, pioneers of the Apple economy in Himachal Pradesh.
Stokes entered electoral politics after the death of former Public Works Development Minister JBL Khachi. She held the cabinet portfolios of power, IPH, and Horticulture in the Virbhadra Singh council of Ministers from 2003 to 2007 and 2012 to 2017. After her retirement, the Congress failed to win the Theog assembly seat in 2017, which went to CPI(M), and Rakesh Singha became the member of the assembly from Theog. Currently, Kuldeep Rathore is the assembly member of Theog, known for the highest per capita income. Singha is among those who greeted Stokes on her 96th birthday today.
Stokes is a progressive apple grower, and the oldest orchards still survive in the fertile belts of the Shimla district. In the days when she was politically active, Stokes was considered among the few powerful Congress leaders close to the Nehru-Gandhi family, the nucleus of the grand old party. Stokes missed the political journey to the Chief Minister’s Office as she had to compete with stalwart leader like Virbhadra. The political tussle between Virbhadra Singh and Stokes was quite significant during her first term as a cabinet minister. The two sailed in the same boat during the last tenure of Chief Ministership of Virbhadra Singh.
Narendra Bragta, who belonged to the Jubbal and Kotkhai assembly segment, also inherited the legacy from Stokes to ensure the welfare of apple growers and the mantra to manage the Apple industry. During her tenure as IPH Minister, a number of water lifting schemes, including Gumma-Shimla drinking water, Satluj Shimla water lifting schemes, and many other major projects, were launched and commissioned. Stokes fought to abolish the six percent commission charged on the sale of apples in Azadpur and other apple markets. The duo of Vidya Stokes and Bragta opened various new market yards and cold chains for the storage of apples. The departure of Stokes from public life and the death of Bragta affected the apple economy, which is now mostly in the hands of corporate sector.
The notification of the Universal carton, which is the brainchild of Vidya Stokes since 2007-08, could be the best birthday greeting to her if the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government implements this new packaging regime in times to come.
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