Lucknow, Apr 19 (IANS): Finding itself having to explain the frequent transfers of officials, the Uttar Pradesh government has come out with a new transfer policy, to take effect in May. Sources said Friday a government order has been issued in this regard.

Officials say the new policy would ensure that official appointments are done in "public interest and to ensure better administration".

It is customary for a government to announce a policy on transfers. This is the first time that the Akhilesh Yadav government is outlining such a policy.

All transfers, the government order stipulates, should be completed by May 1.

The new transfer policy, it is hoped, would set members of the general public and activists at ease, as there have been angry complaints against the frequent transfer of bureaucrats.

Insiders say the Samajwadi Party (SP) government also has an eye to the possibility of early general elections: That eventuality would mean that the state government would lose the upper hand in reshuffling its officials, and miss the chance to place loyal people in plum posts.

"Talk of early Lok Sabha polls is in the air. We can't discount the benefits of having loyal officials in places where we want them to be," conceded a top SP functionary, while defending the frequent transfers as well as the transfer policy.

Under the new transfer policy, 10 percent of state employees of each department can be transferred; government employees who have completed six years in a district and 10 in a division will now be transferred.

More than 3,000 officials, including those in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), provincial civil service (PCS) and provincial police service (PPS) have been transferred in the last one year of the Akhilesh Yadav government.