Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Monday launched the distribution of donations among the families of July uprising martyrs and those injured in the anti-fascist movement.

Twenty-one families of martyrs and seven injured uprising participants received cheques at the chief adviser’s office, Tejgaon in the capital.

Liberation War Affairs Adviser Faruk-e-Azam, Health Adviser Noorjahan Begum, Information and Broadcasting Adviser Nahid Islam and Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Dr Md Sayedur Rahman were present at the cheque handover ceremony.

The chief adviser also announced that martyrs of the movement against Awami League’s 15-year undemocratic rule will from now be recognised as “July Martyrs,” while the injured participants will be known as “July Warriors.” The warriors would also get ID cards to avail different government services.

So far, the government has listed 835 individuals as martyrs, while the list of the injured is being prepared.

Addressing the martyrs' families and the injured, the chief adviser said from Monday, they [the families] were officially a part of the government. "This is an institutional recognition. Beyond this, society as a whole must also take responsibility for you."

Prof Yunus also extended an olive branch to the Awami League members not involved in the party’s atrocities, saying the party’s non-criminal activists must be rehabilitated through united efforts.

He warned the July uprising victims and their families against engaging in violence and unrest. Trials against the culprits behind July violence must also be fair and cannot be hurried, he said.

As per the government’s aid scheme, each martyr’s family would get Tk30 lakh in one-time grant in two installments. In the first installment in this fiscal year, the families would get Tk10 lakh as national savings certificate, and in the next fiscal year starting 1 July, the families would get the rest of the grant.

The families would also get Tk20,000 monthly allowance, and priority in government as well as semi-government recruitment processes.

The injured have been grouped into two categories: severely injured and moderately injured. The severely injured would get Tk5 lakh grant in two installments: Tk2 lakh cheque in this fiscal year and Tk3 lakh in the next fiscal year.

The severely injured protesters would also get Tk20,000 monthly allowance, lifetime free medical services at government hospitals, and, when required, govt-sponsored treatment at private and foreign hospitals. They would also get job training and rehabilitation support.

The moderately injured would get Tk3 lakh in two installments; the first one worth Tk1 lakh in this fiscal year and the rest in the next fiscal year. They would get Tk15,000 monthly allowance, job training and priority in government as well as semi-government job recruitment.