New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS): The Central government has extended the services of Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Radha S. Raturi, a 1988 batch IAS officer, for a period of six months, said an official press note.

The Department of Personnel and Training, in a letter to Uttarakhand's Additional Chief Secretary on Saturday, confirmed the extension of the state’s top administrative officer’s tenure till March 31, 2025.

Radha S Raturi, one of the distinguished and first woman Chief Secretary of the state, was due to retire on September 30, 2024.

"I am directed to refer to the proposal of Government of Uttarakhand on the above-mentioned subject and to convey the approval of Central government for extension of service of Radha S Raturi, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand for a further period of six months from 10/10/2024 to 31/03/2025 in relaxation of Rule 16 (1) of AIS (DCRB) rules, 1958 by invoking Rule 3 of AIS (CS-RM) rules, 1960,” said the letter signed by Bhupinder Pal Singh, an Under Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Government of India.

Radha S. Raturi hogged national headlines early this year in February when she became the first woman Chief Secretary of Devbhoomi.

The Chief Secretary, with her service spanning more than three decades, has had an illustrious and eventful career. She has worked in both undivided Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and held many important positions.

Her husband Anil Raturi, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, retired in November 2020 as the Uttarakhand DGP.

Before beginning her bureaucratic career, she undertook the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations thrice and succeeded in all attempts.

In her first attempt, she was selected and allotted the Indian Information Service.

She chose to forgo it and appeared again.

In her second attempt, she made it to the Indian Police Service. It was on the advice of her father, also a civil servant, that she appeared in exams again and qualified for the Indian Administrative Service.