Uma Saren (born 9 May 1984) is an Indian politician who has been a Member of Lok Sabha for Jhargram since 2014. She belongs to Trinamool Congress. A medical practitioner by profession, she is the first person to speak in the Santali language in the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Early life

Saren was born on 9 May 1984. Her father worked with the Indian Railways as a Group D staff. She received a M.B.B.S. degree from Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital in 2012. She belongs to the Santhal community.^[1][2]

Political career

In 2012, Saren joined Junglemahal Bhoomiputra and Kanya Medical Association whose aim was to provide medical facilities in remote areas to the tribals in the Bengal-Jharkhand border.^[3]

On 5 May 2014, Trinamool Congress party announced that Saren would contest the upcoming general election from Jhargram constituency.^[4] She was pitted against Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate Pulin Bihari Baske.^[5] In May, she was elected to the Lok Sabha and defeated Baske by a margin of 3,50,756 votes. She became the first ever woman Santhal MP of India.^[2][6] She also won with the highest margin in her state.^[6] In 2014, she was the member of two standing parliamentary committees: the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers and the Consultative Committee on Ministry of Tribal Affairs.^[7]

In April 2017, Saren utilised ₹16.39 crore (US$2.1 million) from her MPLADS funds to buy ceiling fans, LED lamps and water coolers for 3,000 schools in the state.^[8]

On 28 May 2018, Saren became the first person to speak in the Santali language in the Inter-Parliamentary Union.^[9] She spoke about the many problems faced by various tribes in India. She was also the only woman in the Indian delegation which consisted of seven members.^[9][10][11]

On 12 March 2019, the party announced that they had not renominated Saren for the next general election.^[12] Partymen alleged that she did not use the MPLADS funds.^[13]