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Defending the government's stand on CAS and its imminent introduction
in a phased manner in four metros of the country --- for which the
Opposition and some allies attacked it --- Prasad hailed CAS as
a "march of technology." Pleading his case, he said, "Allow this
to go on, I request the Elders."
In a statement in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a calling-attention
notice from the Congress Party's Suresh Pachouri, government ally
Shiv Sena's Sanjay Nirupam and others, the minister detailed the
genesis of CAS and its implementation.
The minister denied that there is any confusion in the implementation
of CAS for viewing pay channels for which a set-top box would be
needed.
CAS is being sought to be implemented area-wise in the cities of
Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi from 1 September. Earlier, according
to a notification the rollout was to have happened from 14 July,
a deadline that could be adhered to because confusion over availability
of boxes and the pricing of pay channels.
Referring to CAS, Prasad said the government has been in constant
dialogue with the various stakeholders in the industry and out of
a concern for the consumers an earlier deadline of CAS rollout was
postponed.
He also dismissed the claims made by Opposition members, Pachouri
and Nirupam on outflow of forex from the country owing to import
of boxes and creation of monopolies. Pointing out that CAS would
lead to a "great electronic revolution in the country", Prasad said
that tax sops extended to local manufacturers would see boxes being
manufactured here "from Chandni Chowk (in Delhi) to Ludhiana (in
Punjab)."
"Once CAS starts rolling a lot of initiatives will come in," the
minister said, adding that Indian entrepreneurs first assess a situation
before jumping onto the bandwagon.
Enumerating the names of established global companies (NDS, Scientific
Atlanta, Conax, Nagravision, etc) that are supplying CAS technology
to India, the I&B minister clarified that interoperability is something
that has not worked elsewhere in the world and is also unlikely
to work here in India. In Europe interoperability (of the smart
card needed for CAS) was tried out in a limited way, but it did
not work, Prasad said, adding, "In India, interoperable set-top
boxes (are) commercially not available."
The minister, who gained in confidence once he started speaking
after several hours of debate in Rajya Sabha on CAS and Star News
issues, went on to say that CAS may be the prescription for many
an ill like under-declaration of subscriber base by cable ops, lack
of quality service and the cleavage that exists between the various
stakeholders in the industry.
"CAS will bring a smile on the face of every consumer," he triumphantly
said, even as Opposition members in the House continued to rile
the government on the arguments being put forward in defence of
CAS.
Earlier, the government came under severe attack from its ally
Shiv Sena and main opposition Congress for its uplinking policy
that demanded that any foreign channel violating norms should not
be given uplinking facility and the chaos on CAS.
Both Pachouri and Nirupam criticised the CAS policy saying it had
only created "confusion and anarchy" and sought to know how the
government was going to ensure that the consumers would not have
to shell out more than what they were paying to cable operators
now.
Nirupam wondered what was the need for introduction of CAS when
the government had already decided to move on to DTH system. He
feared that 15 lakh persons employed in cable TV industry would
become jobless resulting in social unrest.
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