The Centre on Tuesday extended the tenure of Ayush Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha by a year till June 28, 2026. This will be his fourth extension on the post.
    The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension in the tenure of Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, on contract basis for a period of one year beyond June 28, 2025, up to June 28, 2025, on existing terms and conditions, said an order issued by the Personnel Ministry.
     Kotecha is among the select group of lateral entry appointees who were picked by the Centre as specialists for 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. In June last year, his tenure was extended by one more year, which was to end on June 28, 2025.
    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.
    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.