Sidis in North Karnataka and Saurashtra (Gujarat) have been recognized as socially and economically disadvantaged and have been endowed with Scheduled Tribe status. This is only the start of a process of achieving human rights. Scheduled Tribe status entitles the Sidi community to the benefit of assistance programmes that include reservation of places in educational institutions, jobs in government-run services (such as railways, post offices and police forces), subsidies for housing and other forms of minor financial assistance. But there is a time lag before these Sidis, thus empowered, can realise their entitlements. They have found negotiating their way through powerful bureaucracies to be a slow process. Scheduled Tribe status is akin to positive discrimination in the United States of America, which was offered to African Americans as a pump-priming measure to break out of a vicious cycle. Many Sidis fall below the radar, and attempts to redress past atrocities and injustices create new inequalities. Some Sidi entrepreneurs and graduates have developed a sense of social responsibility and are searching for ways to give back to their community. As lawyers, sociologists, entrepreneurs and non-governmental organizations emerge from the empowered Sidi communities, there is a trickle-down effect towards those at the lower end of the social spectrum.