CAS will continue to play prime-time in Parliament when it reconvenes for the Monsoon session beginning next week as 29 Lok Sabha members append their names to one question — Conditional Access System (CAS). They will be out to grill the Centre on its plans to put in place a system which requires the consumer to pay for what he wants to watch through an addressible system. In the Rajya Sabha on the opening day, questions on CAS, two starred and eight unstarred, will go unanswered as the House stands adjourned in memory of two MPs and four former MPs.As the members seek clarification, it is becoming more and more evident with each passing day that media advisor to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry Sudheendra Kulkarni’s festival offer of Rs 72 to watch all channels has few takers. The broadcasters do not want it. The cable operators are not going to implement it and the I&B Ministry has no clue as to whether it can ever get the warring factions to agree to the price.The Rs 72 package was arrived at by Kulkarni as a stop-gap till such time as CAS rolls out in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi. While broadcasters interpreted it as a one month honeymoon before an area is notified, Kulkarni and the I&B Ministry insist that the offer is valid till December 1 — when the last area gets notified.
