The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved a one-year extension in the tenure of AYUSH Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, allowing him to continue in the post until June 28, 2027.
According to a notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Kotecha will remain Secretary of the Ministry of AYUSH on the existing terms and conditions until further orders. His current tenure was scheduled to conclude this month.
This marks the fifth extension granted to the senior official since he joined the ministry through the lateral entry route in 2017 as Special Secretary. He had earlier received two two-year extensions in 2020 and 2022, followed by one-year extensions in 2024 and 2025.
An Ayurveda practitioner by training, Kotecha completed his post-graduation from Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar. He later served as the Vice-Chancellor of the university from 2013 to 2016.
Before entering government service, he founded the Chakrapani Ayurveda Clinic and Research Centre in Jaipur in 1998. He also served as a member of the Advisory Panel to the Central Council of Indian Medicine under the erstwhile Department of AYUSH, which became an independent ministry in November 2014.
In 2015, Kotecha was conferred the Padma Shri in the field of Medicine for his contributions to the promotion and development of Ayurveda.
