The Hindu : W. Bengal conveys reservations on CAS

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Saturday, Sep 06, 2003

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W. Bengal conveys reservations on CAS

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 5. The West Bengal Government has formally communicated to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry its reservations on the Conditional Access System even as the Maharashtra Government has seemingly developed cold feet; fearing a law and order problem should the Shiv Sena supremo, Bal Thackeray, call for an open boycott of the new regime at his meeting with cable operators on Sunday.

Though the Maharashtra Government has been supportive of CAS, Mr. Thackeray's decision to convene a meeting with cable operators on Sunday has made the administration wary of a possible fall-out on the already stretched law and order machinery.

The Shiv Sena has been opposed to CAS from the beginning, and its writ has stalled its implementation in the metropolis till date. Given the Ganesh Mahotsav celebrations in the State, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has till now turned a Nelson's eye to the open defiance of its legislation mandating that pay channels be shown only through the Set-Top Boxes in South Mumbai from September 1. However, there is an acknowledgment within the Ministry that the Centre would have to decide whether to press ahead with its schedule for CAS in Mumbai or allow political compulsions to have the final say as was the case in Delhi.

As for Kolkata, the West Bengal Government has questioned the rationale of introducing CAS in their capital and two other metropolises when it was deferred in Delhi.Of the view that the decision to defer CAS in Delhi was an acknowledgement of the fact that it was not consumer-friendly, the State's contention is that what is not consumer-friendly in Delhi should not be thrust upon people elsewhere either.

Further, the State sees no merit in the acceptance of CAS in Chennai; maintaining that the Southern metro was not pay channel-driven.Reiterating its earlier demand for a meeting of all States concerned before going ahead with CAS, the State Government has also demanded that the Centre issue a new notification for the simultaneous rollout of CAS in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

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