CAS: Sena fails to move Prasad

Bal Thackeray’s outburst on CAS in Sena mouthpiece Saamna notwithstanding, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today he will only subscribe to the Sena chief’s one-line missive to ensure that CAS is consumer-friendly.

‘‘I take his viewpoint to make CAS consumer-friendly and that is what I intend to do,’’ said Prasad to The Indian Express. Apart from that, he refrained from commenting on what transpired in the two hours that he spent with the Sena chief. Prasad, however, ruled out a metro-wise rollout of CAS, another of the ‘‘several’’ missives from Thackeray. ‘‘We stand by the July 14 deadline, set for the rollout of CAS in the four metros of Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi,’’ he reiterated.

Prasad, along with senior PMO official Sudheendra Kulkarni, flew to Mumbai on Friday to meet the Sena chief after he attacked CAS for its ‘‘anti-people thrust’’. Shiv Sena MP Pritish Nandy, who was present at the meeting, had said Thackeray disapproved of CAS but did not want to rock the boat. Prasad had declined to comment on Thackeray’s criticism that the Government would have to ‘‘pay a heavy price’’ for its decision to force the people to buy set-top boxes priced at Rs 6,000. Meanwhile, the Ministry has called for a meeting of broadcasters and multi-service operators on June 18 in what promises to be a last exercise in declaring channels rates.