The union information and broadcasting minister spoke to Editor Prabhu Chawla on Seedhi Baat about CAS and Doordarshan.Ravi Shankar PrasadQ. What have been your achievements in the past six months? A. We started DTH licensing in television. We tried implementing CAS and constituted a task force for radio.Q. How will CAS benefit the consumer? A.In the past six years, pay channels have increased their rates arbitrarily many times. Currently, cable rates range from Rs 150 to Rs 550 per connection. CAS will change all this.Q. You seem to have become an expert in rolling back policies? A.We are trying for a consumer-friendly CAS. But the Congress wanted to project CAS as our criminal mistake. Look at Chennai now. Star Vijay is free-to-air after CASwas implemented. You cannot stop the march of technology.Q. You postponed the implementation of CAS in Delhi on Madanlal Khurana's request. A.Khuranaji should not be blamed. Sheila Dikshit was far ahead of him in this regard.Q. Goa has been chosen as the permanent venue for International Film Festival of India. Does it have the necessary infrastructure? A.The Centre will build a world communication centre there. Its environment, beaches, background- all are suitable. We will project Indian film industry as a brand through Goa.Q. Doordarshan's market share is declining. Are you willing to disinvest in Doordarshan? A.No. We are willing to improve Doordarshan's quality.Q. What is your media policy regarding foreign participation? A.The norms for FDImust be followed whether in print or television. We will rectify problems if there are any in the system, but only after investigation.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Sep 29, 2003 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---
