RMEWF - Financial Assistance to 100% Disabled Child of Ex-Servicemen

What is RMEWF Financial Assistance to a 100% Disabled Child of Ex-Servicemen?

RMEWF Financial Assistance to a 100% Disabled Child of Ex-Servicemen is a welfare grant under the Raksha Mantri Ex-Servicemen Welfare Fund (RMEWF), run by the Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) in the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence. It provides lifelong monthly support for a fully disabled child of a former soldier of low or middle rank, recognising that such a child will usually never be able to earn a living and will remain dependent for life.

According to the Kendriya Sainik Board, the assistance is paid from the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF). The fund built from public donations on Armed Forces Flag Day. The grant is one of several AFFDF welfare measures under RMEWF, alongside the penury grant, medical treatment assistance and education grants for children of ex-servicemen.

How much is paid?

According to the KSB, "Financial Assistance to 100% disabled child of ESM will be provided out of AFFD Fund at the increased rate of Rs 3,000/- per month (paid annually) with effect from 1 August 2021." That works out to Rs 36,000 a year per eligible child. The rate was last revised in 2021; the payment is made as an annual disbursement into the beneficiary's bank account.

The grant continues throughout the life of the disabled child and stops only on the child's death. To keep it running, the family must submit an annual life certificate online between 1 December and 31 March each year.

Who is eligible for this assistance?

You can apply if:

• You are an ex-serviceman or the widow of an ex-serviceman up to the rank of Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) or equivalent in the Navy and Air Force, and below.
• The child is a legitimate offspring of the ex-serviceman or widow.
• The child is certified 100% disabled by a military or government hospital.
• The child is not already receiving a disability benefit from any other official agency.
• Your application is recommended by your Zila Sainik Board (ZSB).

You cannot apply if:

• The ex-serviceman held a rank above JCO (commissioned officers are not covered by this grant).
• The child's disability is less than 100%.
• The child already draws a disability benefit from another government source.
• The child is not a legitimate dependent of the ex-serviceman or widow.

What documents are required?

How to apply for RMEWF disabled-child assistance

1. Obtain the 100% disability certificate for your child from a military hospital or a government hospital, if you do not already have one.
2. Visit the Kendriya Sainik Board portal at ksb.gov.in (the scheme page is at ksb.gov.in/disabled-child-of-esm.htm), register or log in, and fill the prescribed application form.
3. Upload the documents — discharge book photocopy, ESM and dependent identity cards, the disability certificate, and your PNB or SBI bank account details with IFSC code.
4. Submit the form to your Zila Sainik Board by 31 December. The ZSB verifies the case and forwards complete applications through the Rajya Sainik Board to the Kendriya Sainik Board by 31 January.
5. On approval, the Rs 3,000 per month grant is disbursed annually to your bank account. Submit the online life certificate every year between 1 December and 31 March to continue the payment.

Because the grant is applied for and recommended through the Zila Sainik Board, your local ZSB office is the key point of contact for filling the form, verifying documents and tracking the case.

Help and grievance redressal

• Kendriya Sainik Board, West Block-IV, Wing-VII, RK Puram, New Delhi-110066
• General inquiry: 011-25777049 / 9667647016
• Scheme page: ksb.gov.in/disabled-child-of-esm.htm
• Your local Zila Sainik Board / Zila Sainik Welfare Office for in-person help

The grant is funded from public donations to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund, and no agent should charge you to apply. Missing the annual application window (31 December) or the yearly life certificate window (1 December to 31 March) can interrupt the payment, so note both dates carefully.

How to check your application status

Since this grant is routed through the Zila Sainik Board (ZSB) rather than a self-service online tracker, checking status is mostly a matter of following up at the right stage of the chain.

1. Confirm receipt at the ZSB first. After you submit the form and documents, ask your Zila Sainik Board for an acknowledgement or a diary/receipt number. This is your primary proof that the case has entered the system, since there is no separate applicant login on the KSB portal for this specific grant.
2. Ask the ZSB whether the case has been forwarded. Complete applications are meant to move from the ZSB through the Rajya Sainik Board to the Kendriya Sainik Board by 31 January. If you applied close to the 31 December deadline, wait until after this forwarding date before following up, since the file will still be with the ZSB or RSB until then.
3. Call the Kendriya Sainik Board helpline for cases already forwarded. Once your ZSB confirms the file has gone to KSB, you can call 011-25777049 or 9667647016 with your ex-serviceman's discharge book number and the child's name to ask whether the case has been processed for payment.
4. Check your bank account around the annual disbursement cycle. Because payment is made once a year rather than month to month, the most concrete confirmation of approval is the credit itself. If a year has passed since your ZSB confirmed forwarding and no amount has reached your PNB or SBI account, that is the point to raise a query with the ZSB rather than assuming it is still "in process."
5. For an already-approved case, track the life certificate instead of the application. Once the grant is running, the only annual action is submitting the life certificate online between 1 December and 31 March. If the payment stops in a later year despite a previously approved case, the first thing to verify is whether the life certificate was submitted on time, since a missed or late submission is the most common reason an ongoing payment pauses.
6. Use the ZSB as the escalation point. Since there is no centralized applicant-facing status portal for this scheme, your Zila Sainik Board remains the correct office to escalate to at every stage, whether the query is about a pending fresh application or a stalled recurring payment.

Common reasons for rejection

• Ex-serviceman's rank exceeds JCO or equivalent. This grant is restricted to Junior Commissioned Officers and below (and equivalent ranks in the Navy and Air Force). Applications from families of commissioned officers above JCO rank are turned down regardless of the child's disability. There is no fix for this beyond confirming that the discharge book actually shows a rank at or below JCO before applying.
• Disability certified below 100%. The scheme pays only for a child certified as fully (100%) disabled. A certificate showing a lower percentage, even a high one such as 80% or 90%, does not qualify. If your child's certificate shows less than 100%, the fix is to get the child freshly assessed at a military or government hospital and reapply only once a 100% certificate is issued.
• Child already receiving a disability benefit from another official source. If the child draws a disability pension, allowance, or similar benefit from another government agency or department, the application is rejected on grounds of duplication. Families in this position need to either surrender the other benefit if they wish to claim this one, or continue with the existing benefit and not apply here.
• Child is not a legitimate dependent. The grant applies only to a legitimate offspring of the ex-serviceman or the widow, established through the ESM and dependent identity cards. If the identity cards do not clearly list the child as a dependent, the application will be sent back; the fix is to first get the dependent's name updated or added on the ESM identity card through the ZSB before applying.
• Application missed the 31 December cutoff. The ZSB is expected to forward complete cases to the Rajya Sainik Board and then Kendriya Sainik Board by 31 January, which means applications reaching the ZSB after 31 December risk being pushed to the next year's cycle. Submitting well before the deadline, rather than in the final days of December, avoids this.
• Missing or incomplete Zila Sainik Board recommendation. Because the ZSB's endorsement is a mandatory part of the file, an application without it, or with an incomplete verification note from the ZSB, will not move forward to Kendriya Sainik Board. Following up directly with the ZSB to ensure the recommendation has actually been recorded and attached, rather than assuming the paperwork alone is enough, prevents this.
• Incomplete or mismatched documents. A discharge book photocopy that does not clearly show the rank, a disability certificate not issued by a military or government hospital, or bank details without a valid IFSC code are common reasons a file gets returned for correction rather than approved outright. Cross-checking that every listed document is present, legible, and consistent with the applicant's name before submission avoids repeated back-and-forth with the ZSB.
• Annual life certificate not filed for an already-approved case. For beneficiaries already receiving the grant, failing to submit the online life certificate between 1 December and 31 March causes that year's payment to be withheld, and can look like a fresh rejection when it is actually a lapsed continuation requirement. Filing the life certificate promptly within the window each year is the only fix.