Mumbai: Facebook India on Monday announced the appointment of Rajiv Aggarwal, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, as director of public policy. He succeeds Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year.

In this role, Aggarwal will lead policy development initiatives for the company that covers user safety, data protection & privacy, inclusion, and internet governance, Facebook said in a statement.

He will report to Facebook India VP and MD Ajit Mohan and will be part of the India leadership team, it added.

“We realise we are deeply immersed in the fabric of India and we have the opportunity to help build a more inclusive and safe internet that benefits everyone in the country," Mohan said in a statement. "I am thrilled that Rajiv is joining us to lead the public policy team. With his expertise and experience, Rajiv will help further our mission to build transparency, accountability, empowered and safe communities, all of which we recognise as our responsibility,” he added.

Aggarwal joins the social media giant from Uber where he was serving as the head of public policy for India and South Asia markets for nearly two years.

He comes with over 26 years of experience as an IAS officer, working from grassroots to the global level, including as a district magistrate in nine districts across the state of Uttar Pradesh. 

During his tenure as an administrative officer, he steered India's first 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, said the statement.

He has been closely associated with the India-US bilateral trade forum, besides being the country’s lead negotiator on IPRs with other nations, it added.