She was born at
Kotgarh village of
Kumarsain tehsil in
Shimla District of
Himachal Pradesh,
India on 8 December 1927. She is an under graduate and was educated at
University of Delhi. She married Shri. Lal Chand Stokes who was a
Horticulturist, social worker and Former MLA from
Theog Assembly Constituency in
1972. She is the daughter-in-law of noted social worker
Satyananda Stokes (an American settled in India), who later became a pioneer in horticulture in
Himachal Pradesh. She has two sons and one daughter who live in the U.S. Vidya Stokes at the age of 83 was elected
Hockey India president on 5 August 2010 after defeating
Pargat Singh. Vidya Stokes's nomination was initially in violation of the age stipulation of 70 in the government guidelines. She was a nominated member of All India Congress Committee, 1976. She was appointed
General Secretary of Pradesh Congress Committee, 1977. She was the chairperson of
Finance Committee of the Pradesh Congress during
Lok Sabha General Elections, 1980. She was the observer of All India Congress Committee for- •
Sikkim, Assembly
elections, 1994, • Re constitution of Congress Party in
Assam, 1994, • Elections to
Punjab Legislative Assembly, 1997. She also represented
India in the
Asian Women’s Co-operative Conference which was held at Kuala-Lumpur during the International Women's year, 1977. She served as the
Director of the
State Bank of India. She was in Delhi Board from 1973 until 1974. She remained the
President of
State Co-operative Union for a period of four years. She also served on the
Editorial Board of the Co-operative Magazine. She is the vice-chairperson of National Farmers Forum and the President of State Unit of
National Farmers Forum. She was the Vice- Chairperson of HPMC Limited from November 1980 to 14 November 1984. She was the
President of
Indian Women’s Hockey Association in 1984, 1988, 1994 and 2003. She represented
India in various international sports events and accompanied the
India women's national field hockey team during the
World Cup held in
Spain. She has continued in the post of State Chief Commissioner of The Scouts/Guides Organisation an organisation Member of World Federation of Independent Scouts, (WFIS) Germany. She is the oldest winner in Himachal Pradesh and has won in the assembly elections for the eighth time in the year 2012. ==References==