WhatsApp India head, Meta Public Policy director step down

Director Public Policy Meta India Rajiv Aggarwal too resigned from his position

A week after Meta's biggest layoffs across board, WhatsApp’s India head Abhijit Bose, and Director Public Policy Meta India Rajiv Aggarwal, have resigned from their positions. Shivnath Thukral, Director of WhatsApp Public Policy in India, has now been made Director, Public Policy for all Meta brands in India.

Last week, Meta trimmed around 11,000 jobs across the globe. Ajit Mohan, the head of Meta in India, had stepped down from his role earlier this month. He joined Snap as president, Asia-Pacific.

“I want to thank Abhijit Bose for his tremendous contributions as our first Head of WhatsApp in India. His entrepreneurial drive helped our team deliver new services that have benefited millions of people and businesses. There is so much more WhatsApp can do for India and we’re excited to continue helping advance India’s digital transformation,” Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, said in a statement. 

Rajiv Aggarwal has decided to step down “to pursue another opportunity”, the company said. “Over the last year, he has played an important role in leading our policy-led initiatives in areas such as user-safety, privacy and scaling up programmes like GOAL to drive digital inclusion in the country. He has also been leading proactive engagement with critical policy and regulatory stakeholders,” the note said.

The company is appointing Shivnath Thukral as Director, Public Policy for Meta in India. " We are also announcing the appointment of Shivnath Thukral as our Director, Public Policy for Meta in India. Shivnath has been an integral part of our Public Policy team since 2017. In his new role, Shivnath will define and lead important policy development initiatives across our apps - Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - in India. We remain committed to our users in India and will continue to contribute meaningfully to the regulatory process that will enable everyone to harness the full potential of India’s digital economy", said  Manish Chopra, Director, Partnerships, India - Meta.