Who Is Rajiv Aggarwal? Former IAS Officer Appointed As Facebook India's Head Of Public Policy

Rajiv Aggarwal will succeed Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year after being embroiled in a controversy for opposing enforcement of hate-speech rules against right-wing leaders

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New Delhi: Almost after a year, Facebook India has filled the vacancy of Director of Public Policy and appointed ex-IAS officer and former Uber executive Rajiv Aggarwal on Monday. Aggarwal will succeed Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year after being embroiled in a controversy for opposing enforcement of hate-speech rules against right-wing leaders in the country.

In his new role, Aggarwal will be leading important policy development initiatives for Facebook in India on an agenda that covers user safety, data protection and privacy, inclusion, and internet governance, a statement said.

In this role, Aggarwal will be reporting to Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director of Facebook India, and will be a part of the India leadership team, it added.

Who’s Rajiv Aggarwal?

In his last assignment, Aggarwal was leading Uber as its Head of Public Policy for India and South Asia. He holds 26 years of experience as an Indian Administrative Officer (IAS) and has worked as a District Magistrate in nine districts across the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In his administrative tenure, he steered India's first-ever national policy on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) as Joint Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (M/o Commerce), and was instrumental in the digital transformation of India's IP offices, as per the statement.

Aggarwal has been closely associated with the India-US bilateral trade forum, besides being India's lead negotiator on IPRs with other nations.

With his expertise and experience, Rajiv will help further our mission to build transparency, accountability, empowered and safe communities, all of which we recognize as our responsibility, said Ajit Mohan.  

It is one of the important appointments that has come amid a series of senior and leadership recruitments in recent months across marketing, partnerships, communications, and other key verticals demonstrating the company's expanding charter and commitment to India.

(With PTI Inputs)