November 12, 2001

‘11’

    The Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Members of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting today, discussed in detail the introduction of Conditional Access System (CAS) for cable TV networks in the country. Most of the members welcomed the proposal but wanted all the details to be sorted out before a final decision is taken in the matter.

    Presiding over the meeting, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Smt. Sushma Swaraj said that consumers today have no choice as to which channels they want or do not want to view, even though technologically this is possible. She said, apart from consumer choice, the CAS would help in sorting out disputes between Multi Service Operators and Cable Operators on the one hand and Broadcasting Companies and Cable Operators on the other. The system would help arrive at correct TRP figures and advertising rates. The States would be able to collect more entertainment tax revenues as at present the cable operators are suppressing the exact number of consumers. An audio-visual presentation was also made to explain the scheme to the members.

    Some of the members said that the cost of the Set Top Boxes at consumer end should be reduced to minimum so that the middle class people do not suffer. The Committee was informed that a Task Force with representatives of Cable Operators, MSOs, Broadcasting Companies, Consumers and Consumer Affairs Ministry, has been set up to consider the proposal details and give its recommendations.

    A number of Members pointed to the menace of video piracy, which was eating into the vitals of the film industry and completely ruined producers. The Minister informed that the Ministry convened a joint meeting of the representatives of the film industry and cable operators in which it was decided that an agreement would soon be signed between the two. The agreement would provide that the film industry will ensure that properly authorized old films are legally made available for cable viewing. The cable operators on their part would not show new films before one year of the release of the film. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is also preparing two training modules, one for senior police officers and the other for junior personnel, to educate them about the law relevant to piracy, the requirements of evidence and other relevant matters. These modules would help State Governments to train police and other associated personnel to tackle piracy better, Smt. Swaraj said.

    In reply to a member’s view that vacant posts of Field Publicity Officers should be filled up so that the publicity on important issues of development in rural and far-flung areas does not suffer, the Minister said that the Ministry is seized of the problem. The Field Publicity Organization is important to reach the masses in wake of the fact that less than one-third of the population has access to the television, she said.

    The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ramesh Bais, Member of Parliament, Smt. Saroj Dubey, S/Shri K. S. Duggal, E.M. Sudarshan Natchiappan, Hannan Mollah, G.S. Sukhender Reddy, Gandhi Azad, A.A. Khan, D. Rama Naidu, and N.K.P. Salve and Dr. C. Narayana Reddy.