People have questioned the Beijing municipal government's disaster relief policy for non-locals, after media reports revealed that a migrant worker may have suffered discriminatory treatment in receiving relief materials.

The family of Zhao Lupo, a 40-year-old farmer from Central China's Anhui Province who now lives in Beicheying village in suburban Beijing, was reportedly denied relief supplies after the downpour. Though he has lived in the village for the past 20 years, he still doesn't have a local household registration.

During the rainstorm over the past weekend, Zhao saved five people in the village, one of the worst-hit areas.

Zhao told the Global Times that when his wife went to the relief center, she was told by two local women that "there weren't enough supplies for locals" and was asked to stay out of the way.

"There was a shortage of relief supplies at the beginning, so we had to give priority to the local residents," Zhai Ruisheng, the Party secretary of the village, was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the Beijing Times.

Failing to seek shelter in tents, Zhao's family had to spend the night in their neighbor's truck.

Zhao's experience stirred up anger on the Internet, with Web users denouncing the "discriminatory treatment."

A Web user who went by the name "yiyun" demanded on sina.com that the migrating population get equal treatment in the face of a disaster.

Another Web user on sina.com asked ironically whether Zhao was asked to show his household registration while saving other people.

Following reports, the village on Wednesday sent relief materials to Zhao's family.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities on Thursday issued a guideline to better protect Good Samaritans and give them more preferential treatment across all fields, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The guideline stipulates measures to protect Good Samaritans' rights in employment, education and housing.

However, Wang Zhenyu, a professor with the China University of Science and Law, contended that the regulations were still inefficient, especially in protecting the migrating population.

"It stops short of providing benefits to non-local residents, since the enrolment policies of schools and affordable housing policies discriminate against them," said Wang.