REWA 2.0 Scheme (Ladakh)

What is the REWA 2.0 scheme in Ladakh?

REWA 2.0 is a financial assistance scheme of the Department of Higher Education, Union Territory of Ladakh, that pays for UPSC Civil Services coaching for aspirants from Ladakh who cannot afford it. Each selected candidate receives about Rs 1.18 lakh, Rs 1,00,000 towards coaching expenses and Rs 18,000 as boarding assistance, covering coaching and accommodation for a period of six months.

Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta launched REWA 2.0 on 18 October 2025, describing the scheme as removing financial barriers for Ladakh's UPSC aspirants and providing a level playing field to deserving candidates. The scheme rests on Order No. 32(HE)/UTL of 24 December 2024, which authorised financial assistance for coaching towards the UPSC Civil Services examination.

The design of REWA 2.0 answers a specific problem. Serious Civil Services preparation in India is concentrated in a handful of coaching centres in Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Pune, and the cost of the course plus living expenses puts it out of reach for a student from Leh, Kargil, Zanskar or Nubra whose family income is modest. REWA 2.0 does not tie the candidate to a departmental coaching centre. Selected candidates may choose any coaching institute of their choice anywhere in the country, and the assistance follows the candidate.

The scheme in numbers

• Rs 1,00,000; coaching expenses per candidate.
• Rs 18,000; boarding assistance per candidate.
• Six months. The period the assistance is meant to cover.
• 80 candidates to 40 from Leh district and 40 from Kargil district.
• One seat per district reserved for a person with a disability.
• Rs 200, the online application fee.

REWA 2.0 should not be confused with the earlier REWA scholarship, which the Administration lists under the Directorate of Social & Tribal Welfare. The original REWA reimburses coaching for national entrance examinations such as NEET, JEE, NDA and CLAT for students selected on Class X and Class XII results, and separately offers up to Rs 1.54 lakh to Ladakhi students who have already qualified the UPSC preliminary examination. REWA 2.0 works at the opposite end of that journey: it funds coaching before the preliminary examination is attempted. The two are complementary, run by different departments, and applied for separately.

Who is eligible for REWA 2.0?

You can be selected if:

• You hold a valid domicile certificate of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
• You are a graduate, the same minimum qualification the UPSC Civil Services Examination itself requires.
• You are aged between 21 and 36 years.
• Your annual family income does not exceed Rs 8 lakh.
• You intend to appear in the forthcoming UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination.
• You appear in and clear the departmental screening test.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You do not hold a Ladakh domicile certificate. Residence elsewhere, however long, does not substitute for the certificate.
• You are below 21 or above 36 years of age.
• You have not completed graduation. A candidate still in the final year of a degree does not meet the qualification the scheme asks for.
• Your family income exceeds Rs 8 lakh a year. The ceiling is the mechanism by which the scheme targets economically weaker aspirants, and an income certificate is checked at document verification.
• You are preparing for an examination other than the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Candidates who have already cleared the preliminary examination should look at the original REWA scheme's Rs 1.54 lakh component instead.
• You do not sit the screening test, or you do not appear for document verification when shortlisted.

What documents does REWA 2.0 require?

How to apply for REWA 2.0 in Ladakh

1. Watch for the notification on the Ladakh Administration website. Each round is announced by a dated notification from the Department of Higher Education inviting online applications.
2. Open the REWA form portal of the Department of Higher Education at highereducation.ladakh.gov.in/rewa-form. REWA 2.0 has no offline application route.
3. Fill in your personal, educational and income details exactly as they appear on your certificates, and upload the domicile certificate, degree, date of birth proof and income certificate.
4. Pay the Rs 200 application fee online. Only online payment was notified, so no challan or counter payment is accepted.
5. Submit the form before the closing date given in that round's notification, and save the acknowledgement.
6. Appear for the screening test on the date announced by the department.
7. Attend document verification if your name appears in the provisional shortlist published after the test.
8. Check the final selection list published by the department, and then join the coaching institute of your choice.

What happened in the 2025 REWA 2.0 cycle?

The first round under REWA 2.0 ran to a published calendar, and it is the best guide to what a future round will look like:

• 17 October 2025: online applications opened.
• 18 October 2025. The scheme was formally launched by the Lieutenant Governor.
• 21 October 2025 — notification opening the online application process was published on the Administration website.
• 28 October 2025. The Secretary, Higher Education held a press conference setting out the eligibility, amounts and process.
• 31 October 2025, the original closing date for online submission.
• 6 November 2025, a departmental notification extended the submission deadline.
• 9 November 2025. The screening test, notified as tentative.
• 18 November 2025: provisional list of candidates shortlisted for document verification.
• 2 December 2025; final list of candidates selected for financial assistance under REWA 2.0.

The extension of the closing date within a fortnight of opening is worth noting: applicants who assume the first announced date is final have, in this scheme's only completed cycle so far, been wrong. Equally, the gap between the closing of applications and the final list was barely a month, so a candidate who applies should be ready to sit a test at short notice.

How to check your REWA 2.0 status

1. Open ladakh.gov.in and search for REWA 2.0. Each stage; application notification, deadline extension, document verification shortlist and final selection list: is published there as a dated PDF.
2. Match your application or roll number against the shortlist PDF rather than relying on your name alone, since names repeat.
3. Contact the Department of Higher Education if your name is missing from a list you expected to appear in, taking your application acknowledgement and fee payment record with you.

Common reasons REWA 2.0 applications fail

• Income certificate above Rs 8 lakh, or issued by an authority not competent to issue it.
• Domicile certificate not produced at document verification, even though it was declared in the online form.
• Age outside 21 to 36 on the cut-off date used in that round's notification.
• Graduation incomplete at the time of application.
• Application fee not paid, leaving the form incomplete despite being filled.
• Absence from the screening test, which ends the candidature for that round regardless of how strong the application was.
• Applying after the closing date, since the department accepts submissions only through the online portal within the notified window.

Where to get help

REWA 2.0 is administered by the Department of Higher Education, UT Ladakh, and every notification for the scheme is published on the Ladakh Administration website at ladakh.gov.in. Round-specific queries, including the screening test venue and document verification schedule, are answered by the department through those notifications and by the Secretary, Higher Education's office at the Civil Secretariat, Leh.

No agent or coaching institute can secure a REWA 2.0 seat for you. Selection is by the department's screening test and document verification, and the only payment involved is the Rs 200 fee paid online through the official portal.