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The July Shaheed Smriti Foundation has announced plans to provide financial assistance on a weekly basis to the families of those killed in the mass uprising that toppled the Sheikh Hasina regime.
Sarjis Alam, an Anti-discrimination Student Movement leader and general secretary of the foundation honouring martyrs of the July-August uprising, outlined the plan at a media briefing on Friday, bdnews24.com reports.
"Each week, we will extend financial support to 200 families of martyrs. On Saturday, Tk 500,000 will be handed to each of the designated families at Dhaka South City Corporation’s City Hall from morning until evening," he said.
“This is entirely the people’s money,” he added. “In the past, funds have been raised for personal or organisational recognition. But now, we’re focused on getting support directly to families who truly need it.”
The anti-government movement that began in July ended the Awami League’s 15-year rule within 36 days. The Ministry of Health’s Management Information System (MIS) has documented 871 deaths from that period.
“Each week, we plan to extend the foundation's support to 200 families. Financial aid will be distributed among the families in four phases on Saturday. A 20-member team will handle the distribution of funds,” Sarjis said.
Highlighting the challenges faced in the process, he added, “We began our efforts with Dhaka Division. But the number of families here is comparatively high. For unmarried martyrs, the equation is straightforward -- we're nominating either the father or the mother. For married martyrs, we are including both the spouse and one parent as joint nominees."
"In some cases, however, we’ve found conflicts between spouses and in-laws. In these situations, we are temporarily postponing disbursement."
During its first executive committee meeting on September 18, the foundation decided to allocate Tk 500,000 to each martyr’s family and Tk 100,000 to those injured during the July-August movement.