Sufferings and disappointment of the people wounded in the July uprising deepens on as many of them have yet to receive any or furhter financial help from the July Shaheed Smrity Foundation.
The foundation, launched on September 17, 2024 with an initial amount of Tk聽100 crore from the chief adviser鈥檚 relief and welfare fund, was meant to support uprising victims.
The foundation has until July 15 disbursed Tk聽1,00,000 each to 6,691 wounded individuals in the first phase and Tk 5,00,000 each to 806, out of 852, families, of the martyred.
Out of the 14,541 people registered as wounded with the government, keeping to the foundation, 8,718 have sought help. And, 523 people have also received the second-phase grant.
But many have yet to receive any help. There are 2,027 such victims while the victims who have received the first-phase grant keep struggling to get the grant for the next phase.
Md Rakibul Islam, who has received the first-phase grant, has said, 鈥楾hey just don鈥檛 care about us.鈥� Rakibul, who walks with crutches, has visited the foundation seven to eight times.
Rakibul, who lives at Savar, was wounded on August 4, 2024 as a law enforcer鈥檚 vehicle ran over him in front of Jahangirnagar University.
He visited the foundation on July 2 with a mind to go on a fast unto death as he has not received the second-phase grant.
鈥業 have been jobless for a year. I can鈥檛 fold the right leg. It is difficult to walk to the foundation repeatedly,鈥� he said. 鈥楽ometimes, I don鈥檛 have money to pay the fare,鈥� said Rakibul, father of a three-year-old daughter.
The foundation has told Rakibul, a Category B victim, that he would receive the grant once the amended category list was notified.
The foundation鈥檚 chief executive officer Kamal Akbar, a retired colonel, said on July 13 that the foundation did not have enough funds to help all the victims.
鈥楾he initial plan was to manage the funds through the liberation war affairs ministry. But the government has later decided to provide the wounded with monthly allowance.鈥� he said.
鈥榃e have to make the wounded understand that they would be receiving the money in monthly allowance,鈥� he said, noting that the foundation, which had about Tk聽8 crore on July 12, now has Tk聽1.20 crore.
The foundation has decided that Category A victims, who were critically injured and have lost limbs, will get Tk 4,00,000 in grant, Category B victims, who were severely injured but have not lost any limbs, will receive Tk 3,00,000 and Category C victims, who were injured but can work, will receive Tk 2,00,000.
Among the 600 wounded classified in Category A, 220 have yet to get the second-phase grant until July 13.
In the first phase, victims of all categories will receive Tk 1,00,000 and the remaining amount will be given in the second phase.
As for fund shortage, finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has said that the government has allocated Tk 30,00,000 each for martyr鈥檚 family.
The government will provide the injured with a regular allowance and has issued health cards for them to ensure their treatment in public hospitals, he said.
The government is considering rehabilitation of the martyr families who lost their earning members by providing them with jobs, he added. The finance ministry has already allocated funds and designated two areas at Mirpur in Dhaka to build flats for the victims.
The injured, some on crutches, even from outlying areas, meanwhile, keep visiting the foundation repeatedly, hoping to get financial help聽even to repay treatment-related loans, cover follow-up medical expenses or ensure their daily meals.
About 25 of the injured, some admitted to hospitals in Dhaka, vandalised the foundation鈥檚 office on July 8 after they had failed to get the second-phase grant despite being repeatedly promised.
The foundation on July 13 provided 73 of the injured, including some of whom vandalised the office, with the second-phase grant.
Saiful Islam, a carpenter shot in the left leg at Azampur of Uttara in Dhaka on July 19, 2024, who sought help about three months ago and has since visited the foundation six to seven times, has yet to receive any support.
鈥業 have a debt of Tk 50,000. I borrowed the amount for treatment. I was forced to seek care in a private hospital,鈥� said Saiful, father of five children.
Since the foundation began its activities, victims and their families have alleged mismanagement, inefficiency and nepotism in fund disbursement.
The foundation, with an operational cost of Tk聽3 crore a year coming from the local government, rural development and co-operatives ministry, has run into frauds.
It has identified 39 fraudulent claims of injury and five claims of death. The foundation has already disbursd money in some fraudulent claims and 鈥榤istakenly鈥� gave Tk 5,00,000 each twice to five martyr families.
The foundation has said that it has served legal notices on the frauds having made false claims, asking them to return the money.
The government on January 15 notified a list of 834 martyrs, followed by another notification on July 1 with a list of 10 more individuals as martyrs of the uprising.