If one wants to become an IAS officer, all one has to do is ensure one gets enough marks in the civil services entrance examination and the interview. That can soon change. If a proposal from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) becomes policy, all those who clear the entrance examination and interview might be granted the service and cadre after their performance in a short course is evaluated.The Ministry of Personnel has asked all ministries for comments on a suggestion received by the PMO that service and cadre allocation for civil servants should be done after they undergo a three-month foundation course at the government's training academy in Mussourie, and their performance in the course also be made a parameter.Every civil services aspirant has a choice of service. Many want to become IAS officers while others want to join the IFS or the IPS. If one gets top marks, one gets a service of one's choice. Usually, IAS is the most preferred service among candidates, followed by IFS and IPS. Those with lower ranks get into allied civil services such as Indian Revenue Service, Indian Audit and Accounts Service and Indian Railways Service. They are allocated cadre and services before commencement of a foundation course, according to their rankings in the exam, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.Currently, the IAS and IFS probationers undergo a three-month foundation course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. Probationers from other services are sent to other academies after they have been been allotted service and cadre. In the new system, the service and cadre will be allotted after the foundation course. Their performance during this course will be evaluated and the marks added to their score in the entrance examination. The allotment of service will be based on the total score and also the candidate's aptitude.Effectively, the new system will add one more layer of scrutiny to the entrance examination. The new system can better evaluate probationers for their choice of service. It can ensure the candidates are tested not just on their knowledge but also other attributes such as group activities and leadership.Evaluation of a probationer's performance during the three-month foundation course would have a lot of scope for subjectivity. One's performance in class, group activities, projects or workshops will involve a lot of human element and can make the process evaluation vulnerable to influence, bias, favour and discrimination.