The counselling process for the medical entrance exam National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 which was expected to start on Saturday has been delayed.

The counselling session was expected to start on July 6 even though the Medical Counselling Committee had not shared any detailed notification and schedule for it.

Sources said the process of issuing letters of permission to some medical colleges is still underway and new seats will be added.

"The date of counselling will be announced once the exercise gets over to ensure seats of the new colleges can be taken up in the first round itself," an official source said.

They said the counselling may begin later this month.

Amid the growing clamour for the cancellation of the controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 over alleged malpractices, the Centre and the National Testing Agency told the apex court on Friday that scrapping it without any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality would be counterproductive as it could "seriously jeopardise" lakhs of honest candidates.

The Supreme Court had last month refused to defer the counselling process of the controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 examination. It was hearing a petition seeking a direction to pause the process for two days.

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses, and the Union education ministry have been at the centre of media debates and protests by students and political parties over alleged large-scale malpractices ranging from question paper leaks to impersonation in the test held on May 5.

In the line of fire over the alleged irregularities in NEET and PhD entrance NET, the Centre has removed National Testing Agency (NTA) Director General Subodh Singh and notified a high-level panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief R Radhakrishnan to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the NTA.

While the NEET is under the scanner over several irregularities, including alleged paper leaks, the UGC-NET was cancelled as the education ministry received inputs that the integrity of the exam was compromised. Both matters are being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Two other exams -- CSIR-UGC NET and NEET-PG -- were cancelled as a preemptive step. Fresh dates for both have been announced.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.