The school education officer of a Meghalaya district has been asked to withhold the annual examination results of students who did not go for measles-rubella (MR) vaccination.

P.S. Dkhar, the deputy commissioner of East Khasi Hills district, said he issued a circular in this regard two days ago because of the poor coverage of MR vaccination across the 2,748 sq km district whose headquarters is State capital Shillong.

“The decision was taken because only 63% of the schoolchildren have been covered under MR vaccination. We have kept the results on hold for some time till we decide what is to be done next,” Mr Dkhar told The Hindu from Shillong on Thursday.

The parents concerned are likely to be asked to justify why their children did not participate in the vaccination, officials said.

The circular has not gone down well with organisations such as Khasi Students’ Union and the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People. They said it violates the rights of students and underlines the lack of awareness about the need for children to go for the vaccination.

The MR vaccination drive in most districts of the north-eastern States was launched in March. It faced resistance in minority pockets because of rumours that birth control programme was being implemented under the garb of vaccination drive.