New Delhi: With the West Bengal government complaining that it was not taken in to confidence on the digitalisation of cable services, the Centre today reached out to the state to sort out issues in the wake of the approaching 30 June deadline.
Information and broadcasting secretary Uday Kumar Varma today held consultations with the state chief secretary, official sources said.
Digitalisation drive. Reuters
The meeting assumes importance as a senior minister in the Trinamool government in West Bengal had in the past had reportedly said that his state had not been consulted before digitalisation dates had been decided by the Centre.
The sources said that the aim of the discussions between the Verma and the top state government official was to ensure that all issues are thoroughly discussed.
As per the I&B ministry roadmap for digitalisation, from 1 July 2012 it would be obligatory for every cable operator to provide signals in Digital Addressable mode.
However, the implementation of this sweeping change in the cable industry requires a co-ordinated effort of the Centre, the state, broadcasters and cable operators, officials said.
Earlier, a team of I&B officials led by additional secretary Rajiv Takru had also reached Mumbai to examine the progress of the digitalisation drive and also discuss all outstanding issues.
The ministry officials have also been maintaining touch with the state governments of Delhi and Tamil Nadu for the implementation of the digitalisation drive.
The I&B ministry plans to completely digitalise cable services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai by 30 June 2012 and then the entire country by 2014.
PTI
