IFS Officer Juhi Jalota Takes Charge as Deputy Passport Officer in Chandigarh

Chandigarh: Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Juhi Jalota has assumed charge as the Deputy Passport Officer and Head of Office at the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Chandigarh. A 2017-batch IFS officer, Jalota succeeds Priyanka Mehtani (2015 batch), who had been heading the office since 2023.

Her appointment is part of the routine rotational postings under the Consular, Passport and Visa (CPV) Division of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Key Administrative Responsibility

As head of the Chandigarh RPO, Jalota will oversee passport issuance and related consular services for the Union Territory of Chandigarh as well as several districts in Punjab and Haryana. The region witnesses a high volume of passport applications due to significant overseas migration, making the post both sensitive and demanding.

Her new role marks a shift from primarily diplomatic and foreign assignments to a public-facing administrative position that involves direct citizen engagement.

Academic and Professional Background

Thirty-five-year-old Juhi Jalota hails from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. She holds a B.Tech degree from DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jalandhar. Before embarking on her civil services journey, she briefly worked with a multinational company in Delhi.

Jalota cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination in 2017 in her third attempt, securing an All India Rank of 122 with Philosophy as her optional subject. Although she initially aspired to join the Indian Police Service (IPS), she was allotted the prestigious Indian Foreign Service.

Diplomatic Career

In her diplomatic career so far, Jalota has served as Third Secretary in Madrid and later in Buenos Aires, where she handled consular, cultural, and information responsibilities. She subsequently worked at the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi as Under Secretary in the Southern Division, dealing with matters related to Malaysia and the Philippines. She also served as the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) for RTI matters in the division.

Her appointment in Chandigarh is seen as an important administrative assignment, placing her at the forefront of citizen services in a region with substantial international mobility.