Shantaram Siddi

Shantaram Budna Siddi is an Indian politician who is a nominated member of the Karnataka Legislative Council from the Bharatiya Janata Party. A member of the Siddi Tribe, he is the first Indian legislator of African descent. In the year 2021 Shantaram Budna Siddi won Sant Eshwer Sewa Samman 2021 for their Social Service and Sewa in the Field of Tribal Development and Education.^[1]

Born into a family with poor economic and social background,^[2] Shantaram belongs to the Siddi tribal community which traces its origin to the Bantu peoples of East Africa.^[3] He is from the Hitlalli village of Yellapur taluk in Uttara Kannada district. He topped his class in seventh standard while studying at his village school, after which his teachers recognized his “hunger for knowledge” and got him enrolled in a school in Ankola.^[4] He pursued the Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the Arts and Science College, Karwar, during which he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He became the first graduate from the Siddi tribe, and wanted to get a government job after his graduation.^[4]