New Delhi, Aug 25: The implementation of Conditional Access System (CAS) in Delhi has been deferred till after the assembly elections, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today. However, it will be implemented in the other three metro cities as scheduled, he said.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and attended by deputy prime Minister l k advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Delhi BJP leaders Madan Lal Khurana and V K Malhotra.
Prasad told reporters after the meeting that CAS, which was a consumer-friendly measure, had "unnecessarily" become "a case of complex and conflicting political interests and an election issue" in Delhi.
Stating that it would be implemented as scheduled in the other three metros, he said CAS was not meant to be "an object of political hostility".
Asked whether its non-implementation in Delhi would adversely affect the government's credibility, Prasad said "there is no question of losing credibility as we are implementing CAS after the elections".
Bureau Report