Health authorities in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province have said that offering informers rewards for providing tip-offs about people behaving abnormally aims to help mentally ill people get earlier treatment, after the policy was slammed for violating privacy.

The heath bureau in Chengdu's Shuangliu district released an announcement on its official Sina Weibo account on Thursday encouraging local residents to report any signs of people behaving abnormally to receive a reward of 50 yuan ($7.50) and an additional 300 yuan if the person is later diagnosed with mental health problems.

The bureau also listed 11 abnormal behaviors for reference, including speaking loudly to oneself, brawling, not attending school or work without reason, being undressed in public places, threatening to commit suicide or harming oneself.

Feng Changfu, the bureau's Party chief, told the Chengdu Business Daily that the move aims to identify more mentally ill people as early as possible in order to allow them to receive better treatment and national subsidies.

The bureau also said that informers should sign confidentiality agreements after they receive a reward.

However, Zhang Zanning, an expert in law at Southeast University in East China's Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times that the policy is illegal because it violates people's privacy.

"It is ridiculous and self-contradictory. How could you protect patients' privacy while encouraging their neighbors to report them?" Zhang said.

According to Zhang, the 11 behaviors mentioned by the health department are not good ways to recognize mental illness, which is difficult to diagnose due to a lack of quantitative criteria.

While many Net users supported the policy, many also expressed concerns, saying that the list of behaviors is too vague. Some even worried about being mistakenly identified as mentally ill based on the 11 criteria.