Meta India’s public policy head Shivnath Thukral to depart

Shivnath Thukral, head of public policy of Meta India, is set to step down at the end of this month, concluding a seven-and-a-half-year tenure with the social media giant.

The seasoned public policy executive joined Meta (then Facebook) in November 2017 as Public Policy Director for India and South Asia. He later moved to lead public policy at WhatsApp India and most recently served as Vice President of Public Policy at Meta India.

“It is not an easy decision to make but I feel very confident that our policy engagement with stakeholders is at a credible and constructive juncture and we can only build further on that,” Thukral wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“There is always more to do and I know the team is well equipped to navigate the waters well. Having helped build some of the systems and processes, I do feel it is a good time to let the engine and the team work on their own,” he added.

Prior to joining the social media firm, he held senior leadership positions at Carnegie India, Essar Group, and NDTV.

While Thukral hasn’t announced his next move, he said, “For now, I aim to focus a bit more on my running, health and family but I will be back soon. One should never stop learning so will update on the next move which will help me learn more and do new and different things.”

Earlier this month, Meta expanded the role of Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President for India, to include leadership of its Southeast Asia operations, overseeing key markets like Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

India is Meta’s largest market, with over a billion monthly users across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.