NEW DELHI: NEET counselling for allocating

undergraduate medical seats

will be conducted in four rounds, starting August 14.
As per the notification issued by the

medical counselling committee

constituted under

health ministry

, the first round of allotment of seats will be carried out between August 14 and August 31; second round from September 4 to 22; third from September 25 to October 15; and fourth from October 16 to 30.

There are approximately 1.2 lakh undergraduate medical seats at govt and private medical colleges across country. This year, over 23 lakh students appeared for

NEET-UG exam

that was held on May 5.
The results of the exam were declared on June 4, but the counselling process couldn’t be started sooner due to controversy over an alleged paper leak. The matter reached

SC

with some petitioners demanding a re-test. SC, however, dismissed the pleas for re-test, stating: “At this stage, court has independently scrutinised the data placed on record by NTA. At the present stage, there is absence of material on record to lead to conclusion that the result of the exam is vitiated or that there is a systemic breach of the sanctity of the exam.”
“Ordering cancellation of NEET-UG examination will not be justified on application of settled tests, framed earlier by SC, based on material on record,” said CJI D Y Chandrachud.