 "Facebook India MD Kirthiga Reddy steps down, to move to US")
Her announcement comes a day after Facebook withdrew its controversial Free Basics programme following the directive by India's telecom regulator that the country would not allow differential pricing for internet access.
“She is relocating back to the US, exploring new opportunities at Menlo Park,” a Facebook spokesperson said. He, however, clarified her exit was not connected with the Free Basics withdrawal as Reddy was handling advertising & business and not policy.
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“When my family relocated to India, we knew we would move back to the US some day. It’s a bitter-sweet moment to share that the return time-frame is coming up in the next 6-12 months. Our two daughters start high school and middle school this coming year — which serves as a natural transition point to make this move back,” Kirthiga Reddy, also the first Facebook employee in India, said on her Facebook wall. “What am I going to be doing? It will be business-as-usual over the next 6-12 months. I am working closely with William Easton (managing director of emerging markets — APAC) and Dan Neary vice-president (Asia-Pacific) as we search for my successor in India. I have also begun to explore new opportunities at Facebook back at Menlo Park,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Free Basics was a plan to offer select apps without charging users, which Facebook claimed it would help more users to come online. India's top technology executives such as Nandan Nilekani and Vijay Shekhar Sharma joined a ‘savetheinternet’ campaign to protest against the social network's move calling it was against Digital India.
Reddy, 44, joined Facebook India six years ago and helped set up its advertising sales and business operations in the country.
“I have had the privilege to be part of our amazing growth journey - from our operations in Hyderabad to being a business partner for our clients as they build their brands and grow their business in this mobile-first world. Above all, it’s all been about our mission: ‘Give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.’ We have only just begun,” she added.