New Delhi: Facebook India on Monday said it has appointed former IAS officer and former Uber executive Rajeev Agrawal as its Director of Public Policy. He will succeed Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year after being embroiled in a controversy. In this role, Agarwal will define and lead key policy development initiatives for Facebook in India, the US social media company said in a statement. These initiatives include user security, data protection, and privacy, inclusion, and Internet governance.
In this role, Agarwal will work under Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director of Facebook India and will be part of the Indian leadership team. According to the statement, Agarwal previously served as the head of public policy for India and South Asia at online taxi service provider Uber.
Agarwal has been an IAS for 26 years
Agarwal has served 26 years as an Indian Administrative Officer (IAS) and has worked as a District Magistrate in nine districts of the state of Uttar Pradesh. The statement said that during his tenure as an administrative officer, he spearheaded India’s first National Policy on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) as Joint Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (Ministry of Commerce) and India. Played a key role in the digital transformation of Intellectual Property Offices.
It said that apart from being India’s principal negotiator on IPR with other countries, he has also been associated with the Indo-US bilateral trade forum. Regarding this appointment, Ajit Mohan said that Facebook is an ally in the economic and social transformation of India in which digital is playing a central role. “With his expertise and experience, Rajiv will help further our mission of transparency, accountability, building empowered and safe communities, which we consider our responsibility,” he said.
