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According to an internal briefing at the information and broadcasting
ministry here in Delhi, the state's implementation committee on
CAS would meet to see if the Delhi scene could be replicated in
Kolkata too.
An I&B ministry source said, "If everything goes well
in Delhi, initial hiccups notwithstanding, then CAS may be rolled
out in Kolkata too around mid January." This would mean that
Kolkata would watch the Delhi scenario for about a month.
However, the source pointed out that a lot would depend on the
outcome in Delhi where, buoyed by a Delhi high court order, the
multi-system operators and independent cable operators have routed
all pay channels through a set-top box from 15 December midnight.
But new developments in Delhi seem to suggest that the rollout
that was being initiated may not have such a smooth ride afterall.
This is because a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed
by consumer bodies against implementation of CAS without proper
safeguards for consumers.
Meanwhile, before the assembly election the West Bengal government
had said that considering the fact that CAS was being deferred in
Delhi and the state was not taken into confidence by the federal
government while taking a decision to rollout addressability, CAS
should be deferred in West Bengal too.
A letter from the state government to the I&B ministry had
stated that apart from the above reasons, the state was not in a
position to tackle law and order problems arising out of resentment
due to additional expenditure on boxes.
In Maharashtra, of course, the Shiv Sena had warned that CAS would
not be allowed to be rolled unless it was tried in Delhi. The I&B
ministry, after consultation with the Prime Minister's Office, had
decided not to force the issue in Mumbai as a confrontation with
Shiv Sena would have led to a political controversy.
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