Minister, there's a idiot in my box

All is well that bends well for Ravi Shankar Prasad, the information and broadcasting minister of India.

Year 2003 began with promises of Conditional Access System (CAS) implemented in four Metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Prasad began his stint as I&B Minister in February last year with promises to keep up the good work on CAS his predecessor had done.

He talked like a man with a vision. Year 2004 has begun with Prasad going back on his words. He is talking like a man who never had a vision, nor shame. In the process, people bought expensive set-top boxes in Chennai and now South Delhi, they don't know what do with.

Last time he deferred CAS in Delhi for months, because he wanted his party, the BJP, to not suffer in the Assembly Elections lest the experiment should fail. This time he's scrapping it again for sake of Lok Sabha elections. Last time he couldn't stand up against Madan Lal Khurana. This time he forgot he has a spine as a much smaller V.K. Malhotra threw some tantrums.

He's left a mess on the Indian TV scene. A bigger problem is he'll remain I&B Minister for some time. God know what other lousy stunt he has up his lousy sleeve.

MSOs and large cable operators have acquired over 200,000 set top boxes and invested over Rs 400 crore on CAS infrastructure. Some 20,000 homes in South Delhi have bought those boxes, nearly 100,000 in Chennai.

Prasad says the experiment has not succeeded. Who's he bullshitting? The government had set up a task force a year ago to look into the process of implementing the system.

Last time broadcasters, MSOs, Cable Operators all had series of meetings among themselves and with Mr Prasad's ministry and agreed to implement the system. They fought and fixed rates and responsibility. Everything was going just right.

Until Mr Prasad began bending backwards. CAS was implemented in Chennai, only Chennai. They didn't take to it initially because they could see the fraud. Or rather a practical joke played on them.

Bal Thackeray told him not to implement in Mumbai, so he said okay. The West Bengal government said no not in Kolkata. He said okay.

An Act by Parliament of India was being kicked around like a football in big political field. Any Tom, Dick and Khurana could score a goal. The lawyer from Patna wouldn't even argue.

We are at the mercy of the cablewallas, we have no control over. One area has one cable operator. We watch whatever he offers, pay whatever he demands, we survive the lousy picture and sound quality (monoaural, not even stereo) on our latest digital TV sets.

He hikes his rates whenever he likes. And most of what we pay for pay channels doesn't reach the broadcasters. Most of the entertainment tax we pay doesn't reach the government. It adds to the guy's muscle. He rules. So much so that in case of competition, we see bloodshed. Just the other day, a cable operator was shot dead for challenging someone else's monopoly in an area in Hyderabad.

We have no choice. We'll never have, till we learn to adopt new technology and kick lousy leaders in their ass.