New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) The Centre has extended the tenure of AYUSH Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha by a year till June 28, 2025, according to an official order.
This will be his third extension on the post.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension in the tenure of Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, on a contract basis for a period of one year beyond June 28, 2024, up to June 28, 2025, the personnel ministry order dated June 18 said.
Kotecha is among the selected bureaucrats appointed by the Centre under its ambitious “lateral entry” mode. Lateral entry refers to the appointment of specialists in government departments.
In another departure from the convention of appointing a bureaucrat to the top post, the Centre had in 2017 appointed him as the secretary of the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy).
He was given two-year extensions twice, first in 2020 and then in 2022.
Kotecha, who was a chief consultant at the Chakrapani Ayurveda Clinic in Jaipur, was appointed as a special secretary in the AYUSH ministry in June 2017. Later, he was appointed as the secretary.
His latest extension comes when the Centre is all set to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on Friday.
The Ministry of AYUSH is the nodal department for the observation of the grand event.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the main International Day of Yoga celebrations this year which will be held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar on June 21.
The AYUSH ministry was formed on November 9, 2014, to revive the profound knowledge of ancient systems of medicine with focused attention towards education and research in Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.
Earlier, the Department of Indian System of Medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM&H) formed in 1995 was responsible for the development of these systems. PTI AKV AKV IJT IJT
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