Bihar legislators will be given latest health indicators of their constituency in the budget session starting from Thursday to help them raise issues prominently in the House.

Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary announced introduction of this service on mobile to legislators at a meeting of the House's press advisory committee on Tuesday.

NGO Centre for Catalyzing Change, will give data on institutional delivery, pace of immunisation programme and other health indicators in all 243 Assembly constituencies in Bihar to the legislators, he said. The MLAs can download these data from the NGOs' mobile applications.

Its executive director, Aparajita Gogoi and state programme coordinator Sandeep Ojha said: "The MLAs would also be provided comparative statistics of other constituencies on a particular index."

The Assembly budget session will end on March 31, with a break during Holi. A total of 23 sittings will take place during the budget session.

Chaudhary expressed concern over media giving prominence to disruption in the House. He exhorted the media to encourage legislators who came well-prepared on a subject during debate on any topic.

The press advisory committee mulled forming a committee of mediapersons to choose one, two or three MLAs performing best in the House on a given day.

"Coverage of news of disruption and pandemonium on the front page tempts legislators to indulge in such unsavoury act ...when those who come prepared on a subject and speak well in the House comes in newspapers, it will encourage MLAs to follow that instead of indulging in slogan-shouting and creating ruckus in the House," the Speaker said.

He, however, regretted low attendance of legislators as well mediapersons, particularly during post-lunch sessions, when serious business such as discussion on a department and passing of budget takes place.

(PTI)