RMEWF - Financial Assistance for Vocational Training of Widows of Ex-Servicemen

What is the RMEWF vocational training assistance for widows?

RMEWF Financial Assistance for Vocational Training of Widows of Ex-Servicemen is a welfare grant administered by the Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) under the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence. It is funded from the Raksha Mantri's Ex-Servicemen Welfare Fund (RMEWF), a corpus used to support ex-servicemen and their dependants who are in difficulty.

The purpose of the scheme is narrow and practical. When an ex-serviceman of junior rank dies, his widow is often left without a steady income. According to the Kendriya Sainik Board, this scheme helps such a widow acquire a marketable skill and become self-reliant by giving her a one-time grant of up to Rs 20,000 once she completes a recognised vocational course. It is not a monthly pension and not a scholarship for children, it is a single skilling grant aimed only at the widow herself.

This is a genuinely small, tightly-targeted scheme. It sits alongside other RMEWF-funded measures such as education grants for children of ex-servicemen and assistance for orphans and disabled dependants. Readers looking for a broad ex-servicemen welfare benefit should treat this page as covering only the widows' vocational-training grant.

Who is eligible for the RMEWF vocational training grant?

You can apply if:

• You are the widow of an ex-serviceman whose rank was up to Havildar (or Naik/Leading rank equivalent in the Navy and Air Force).
• Your late husband was a bona-fide ex-serviceman as recorded in his discharge documents.
• You have completed a recognised vocational training course and hold a completion certificate.
• Your case is recommended by your Zila Sainik Board (ZSB).

You cannot apply if:

• Your late husband held a rank above Havildar, widows of JCOs and commissioned officers are not eligible for this particular grant.
• You have not yet completed the training. The grant is released only after successful completion.
• You are not registered with, or recommended by, a Zila Sainik Board.

The rank ceiling is the single most important filter. The scheme deliberately concentrates the fund on the widows of the most junior soldiers, who are the most likely to need income support. Because it is a one-time grant, a widow who has already received it for a completed course cannot claim it again for the same training.

What documents are required?

All documents typically need to be attested by the Zila Sainik Welfare Officer (ZSWO) before the application is forwarded to KSB.

How to apply for the RMEWF widow vocational training grant

1. Complete a recognised vocational course first, for example at a state ITI, a Sainik Board training centre or a reputed private institute, and obtain the completion certificate.
2. Register on the Kendriya Sainik Board portal at ksb.gov.in, creating a login and activating the account through the email link.
3. Start a new application and select the RMEWF vocational training assistance for widows.
4. Fill in your details — your late husband's service particulars, rank, your widow I-card number and your bank account (PNB or SBI with IFSC).
5. Upload the supporting documents; discharge certificate, death certificate, widow I-card and training completion certificate: duly attested.
6. Submit the application to your Zila Sainik Board, which verifies the papers and forwards the recommended case to the Kendriya Sainik Board for sanction.
7. Track the status through your Zila Sainik Board; the grant, once sanctioned, is credited to the bank account you provided.

If you are unsure of the process, visit your district's Zila Sainik Board / Zila Sainik Welfare Office in person, they maintain the records of local ex-servicemen and their dependants and handle these applications routinely.

How much is the benefit and how is it paid?

The scheme provides a one-time grant of up to Rs 20,000, released after the widow completes her vocational training. It is paid directly into the widow's bank account. Because it is a single reimbursement-style payment, there are no instalments and no annual renewal. The Kendriya Sainik Board decides the sanctioned amount within the ceiling on the basis of the Zila Sainik Board's recommendation.

Where to get help

• Zila Sainik Board / Zila Sainik Welfare Office in your district is the first point of contact for all ex-servicemen welfare schemes, including this one. They verify documents, issue the widow I-card and forward applications.
• Kendriya Sainik Board, New Delhi, administers the RMEWF and sanctions the grant. Scheme details and the application portal are available at ksb.gov.in.

Note that the widow I-card and Zila Sainik Board recommendation are prerequisites, no application can move forward without them. There is no fee for applying, and no agent is needed; the Zila Sainik Welfare Office assists eligible widows free of charge.

How to check your application status

Since the application is routed through the Zila Sainik Board (ZSB) rather than tracked on a self-service dashboard, checking status is mostly a matter of following up with the office that holds your file:

1. Check with your Zila Sainik Board first. The ZSB is the office that verified your documents and forwarded your case to the Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB), so it usually knows the current stage of your file before KSB's own records reflect it. Visit in person or call the Zila Sainik Welfare Officer (ZSWO), quoting your name, your late husband's service number and the date you submitted the application.
2. Log in to the KSB portal at ksb.gov.in with the credentials you used to apply. If your application shows a case or reference number, note it down at the time of submission, it is the quickest way to ask either office about progress.
3. Ask specifically which stage your case is at: whether it is still at the ZSB for verification, has been forwarded to KSB for sanction, or has been sanctioned and is awaiting bank transfer. Each stage has a different office responsible, so a vague "has my grant come" question gets a vaguer answer than asking about the specific stage.
4. Confirm your bank details once sanction is mentioned. A grant that has been sanctioned but not credited is very often stuck on a mismatched or closed bank account rather than a processing delay, so this is the first thing to verify if payment has not arrived within a few weeks of sanction.
5. Escalate through the Zila Sainik Board if there is no movement for an extended period. The ZSWO can inquire with KSB directly on your behalf; this is generally faster than repeated portal login checks, since the scheme does not have a public real-time tracking page for applicants.

There is no SMS or email auto-notification system publicised for this specific grant, so proactive follow-up with the ZSB remains the most reliable way to know where an application stands.

Common reasons for rejection

• Husband's rank exceeded the eligibility ceiling. This scheme is restricted to widows of ex-servicemen of rank up to Havildar (or the Naik/Leading rank equivalent in the Navy and Air Force). A widow of a JCO or a commissioned officer is not eligible for this particular grant, and applying anyway is the single most common cause of rejection. Check the exact rank recorded on the discharge certificate before applying, and if in doubt, ask your ZSWO whether that rank qualifies.
• Application submitted before training was completed. The grant is reimbursement-style and is released only after the course is finished and a completion certificate is issued. An application filed while training is still in progress, or with only an enrolment or admission letter instead of a completion certificate, will be sent back. Apply only once you are holding the actual completion certificate from the institute.
• Vocational course not considered "recognised". Courses run by an unregistered or informal trainer, without any affiliation to a state ITI, Sainik Board training centre or a recognised private institute, can be treated as not meeting the scheme's intent. Where the recognition status of an institute is unclear, confirm with the Zila Sainik Board before enrolling, rather than after completing the course.
• Widow I-card not issued or not up to date. The Zila Sainik Board widow identity card is treated as proof of the applicant's status and is a prerequisite for the case to be forwarded to KSB. Applications from widows who have not yet obtained this card, or whose card details do not match the discharge and death certificates, get held up until the card is corrected or issued.
• Mismatch between documents. Discrepancies between the name, rank or service number on the discharge certificate, the death certificate and the widow I-card are a frequent cause of a case being returned for clarification rather than approved outright. Have the ZSWO cross-check these three documents together before submission.
• Bank account details incorrect or in an account not accepted for the transfer. An application otherwise complete can still stall at the payment stage if the account number or IFSC code is entered incorrectly, or if the account has since been closed. Double-check the account details at the time of applying, and update the ZSB promptly if your bank account changes while the case is pending.
• Grant already claimed for the same training. Because this is strictly a one-time benefit per completed course, a second claim tied to the same qualification or the same training cycle will be refused. A widow who wishes to pursue a further course is expected to check with the Zila Sainik Board on how the scheme treats a subsequent, distinct qualification, rather than assume automatic re-eligibility.

In most cases the fix is procedural rather than a fresh application: correcting a document mismatch, submitting the missing completion certificate, or updating bank details, and resubmitting through the same Zila Sainik Board that reviewed the case the first time.