Centre gives third extension to AYUSH Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha

New Delhi: The Centre has extended the tenure of AYUSH Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha by one more year, till June 28, 2025, according to an official order. This is his third extension on the post.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved extension in tenure of Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, on contract basis for a period of one year beyond June 28, 2024, i.e. upto June 28, 2025, said the order issued by the Personnel Ministry dated June 18.

Kotecha was appointed as the Secretary of the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) in 2017. He was given two-year extensions twice -- in 2020 and then in 2022.


Kotecha's extension comes when the Centre is ready to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on Friday.

The Ministry of AYUSH is the nodal ministry 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 Ministry of AYUSH was formed on November 9, 2014 with a vision of reviving 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.