Bengaluru: Siddi community (the tribe of African origin) of the country its first MP came in power in Karnataka. Recently five people, including Shantaram Budna Siddi, have been nominated to the state legislative council by Governor Vajubhai Vala. Siddhis, the 1st ethnic group in the country, are said to be descended from people from the East African region. They are included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the state.
They are living in the regions of Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. But their main population is concentrated in Junagadh district where they have the maximum estimated population of fifty thousand- Sixty thousand. They are known as Catholics in the state.
According to sources, Shantaram Siddi was working as a social worker and was holding the post of Vanvasi Kalyan Pracharak, the 1st tribal welfare initiative of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Apart from this, he is also a graduate from Hitahalli, a village located between Sirsi town and Yellapur in Kannada district of Uttarakhand.
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