By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 2 Mar: Chief Secretary Radha Raturi, otherwise due to retire on 31 March this year, has been granted six months extension by the Centre. This extension has been granted on the request of the Chief Minister. In this connection, Union Ministry of Personnel has written a letter to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday, intimating of the Centre’s approval to the extension of services of Radha Raturi.
The tenure of Chief Secretary Radha Raturi has been extended for six months from 1st April till 30th September this year. She was due to retire on 31st March. She took over as Chief Secretary from her predecessor Dr SS Sandhu on 31st January, 2024. Since then itself, it was being speculated that she would be granted at least 6 month’s extension on the post of Chief Secretary which otherwise would have been proven to be very short tenure of just two months for her. She is considered to be enjoying the trust and confidence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. She is the first woman Chief Secretary of the state and during her tenure as Additional Chief Secretary, she was Additional Chief Secretary Home and Additional Chief Secretary to CM too. Incidentally, her husband too was a top officer of Uttarakhand and had retired some years ago as Director General of Police of Uttarakhand. They are the first bureaucrat couple of the state to get the opportunity to hold the highest post of police and administration so far in Uttarakhand. She had in the past also held the responsibilities as District Magistrate Tehri and Dehradun and also as Chief Electoral Officer of Uttarakhand for several years.
It may be noteworthy to remind here that under Modi Government, it has been rare to see bureaucrats getting extension for periods more than 6 months. The state governments have the authority to grant extension to senior officers for up to 3 months without prior approval of the Centre. However, for any extension beyond a period of 3 months, Centre’s approval is necessary. Her predecessor Dr SS Sandhu had also received extension from the Centre.
