NEW DELHI: The confusion over the alternative and seemingly unviable options being mooted by the information and broadcasting ministry have forced broadcasters to approach PMO officials. A group of broadcasters will be meeting the PM today even as the multi system operators are slated to meet the I&B minister RS Prasad at 2 pm.
 An indiantelevision.com report filed yesterday states that it took the Indian government and bureaucrats almost six months to realise that conditional access system may not turn out to be as consumer friendly as had been earlier envisaged by the country's policy-makers when the amendments to the related Acts were steam-rolled through Parliament by the coalition federal government late last year.
An indiantelevision.com comment piece "Dual illumination not a workable proposition" has really set the ball rolling. Amidst all the confusion, this new "formula" doing the rounds called the soft rollout plan looks more like a plan to soften the mess that the government has got itself into ever since I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad gave a commitment to the world at large that CAS would deliver all channels (including the pay driven ones) to the subscriber within Rs 200.
The last month or so has seen the government, instead of applying itself to the nitty gritty of getting the CAS machine rolling in terms of how it is actually to be managed, playing pricing officer with pathetic results.
And now, while the government insists that the CAS rollout is on schedule, it says it is studying various options to make things easy for consumers, who should not face a blackout of their favourite channels post 14 July.
All eyes will be on the two important meetings scheduled today!