New Delhi: Candidates who have qualified the UPSC exam need not treat the foundation programme as a mere formality.
This is because besides ranking, performance in the foundation course — an introductory programme for freshly recruited civil servants — could hold the key to service allotment.
Earlier, successful UPSC candidates used to treat the foundation course as a formality because they were already allotted their service and cadre based on their rankings even before they took the course.
News portal Print has claimed to have accessed an internal document of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) that suggests giving 10 per cent weightage to a combined foundation course for all civil services.
“The services allotted to candidates would be subject to change depending on their performance in the foundation course”, the document said.
If the proposal is vetted, more than 1,200 candidates could sit for a combined foundation programme instead of having separate programmes depending on the cadre.
According to Print, the idea of having a common foundation course was first mooted by the Prime Minister’s Office last year. But bureaucrats developed cold fearing opposition from various quarters. Giving weightage to the combined foundation course seems to have emerged as a viable option.
