Each family of martyrs primarily to get Tk 5 lakh, injured maximum Tk 1 lakh

Each family of those, who sacrificed their lives during the student-led revolution, will primarily receive Tk five lakh while each injured person will get maximum Tk one lakh from the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation.

The decision was taken at the first meeting of the executive committee of the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation held at the State Guest House Jamuna here with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair.

The committee has decided that each family of the slain martyrs will primarily receive Tk 500,000 and each injured person will primarily get up to Tk 100,000, the chief adviser's press wing said, reports BSS.

The compensation for the injured persons will be made as soon as possible, while cheques for the families of the martyrs will be handed over at a commemorative event in the capital.

The committee, led by the Chief Adviser, urged people from all sections of the society, the Bangladeshi diaspora and organisations and business firms to donate to the foundation.

The committee has also decided to find an office space and volunteers to run its operations. It will also preserve and archive all the video, images, oral history and other documents and memorabilia of the July-August mass uprising.

Prof Yunus told the meeting that donation of even a smallest amount of money should be documented and the list of the donors should also be preserved. If possible, their names should be published on the website of the foundation, he said.

"This foundation is an important milestone. We must strive hard to make it a success," the Chief Adviser said.

He said the health ministry would pay for the treatment of the injured. The compensation that the foundation will be giving to the injured will be in addition to the government's treatment expenses, Prof Yunus added.

Advisers to the interim government Sharmeen Murshid, Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan, general secretary of the foundation Mir Mahbubur Rahman Singdho and its treasurer Kazi Waqar Ahmad were present at the meeting.