With the BJP and Left parties refusing to support the amended Nuclear Liability Bill, the government was forced to relent on Monday and is now willing to make “reasonable modifications” to the bill to secure its passage in the Lok Sabha.
Elaborating on possible changes, minister of state for science and technology Prithviraj Chavan said Monday that he was looking at all three drafts — the original bill, the recommendations made by the parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, and the subsequent 18 amendments made to this draft.
“But we have an open mind... Please come up with concrete suggestions, we are ready to accept... It is not a closed door,” said Mr Chavan, who is also minister of state at the PMO.
“Ideally, we would like to see changes in the amendments and not go back to the original draft since the changes comprised the distilled wisdom of the first two drafts,” the minister said, acknowledging that the government was now willing to go the entire length and drop the controversial word “intent” which had been introduced in Clause 17(b) — under which the operator of a nuclear plant can seek damages only if an accident has occurred due to the “intent” of the supplier or its employees. This, the Opposition felt, would enable nuclear suppliers to be let off the hook.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had directed Mr Chavan, in his prolonged consultations with BJP leaders on Monday, to achieve “the maximum consensus” on the bill. Mr Chavan will be talking to the Left leaders on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the BJP made its position extremely clear by stating upfront that it would not be in a position to support the bill unless the government was willing to roll back to its original proposed legislation as recommended by the parliamentary committee.
“Why is the government playing hide and seek on this issue? Why try to hoodwink the nation? We are taken aback. We are shocked and we have major reservations on the proposed amendment,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said. “Any attempt to absolve the suppliers is unacceptable to the BJP.”
When Mr Chavan met Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley to see how this problem over “intent” could be sorted out, Mr Jaitley said all that the government had to do was to restore the language in Clause 17(b) as recommended by the standing committee. The Left parties also attacked the latest changes, with CPI(M) politburo
member and Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat saying: “The latest amendment goes against the recommendations of the standing committee... As far as the national interest is concerned, we certainly request and think that all parties should move against the amendments.”
The Left parties are also objecting to the addition of Clause 7(1), through which it claims the government will “assume full liability for a nuclear installation not operated by it”. The CPI(M) has accused the government of bringing in the changes to the bill at the behest of the United States and due to a desire to ensure its passage by Parliament well before US President Barack Obama visits India in November this year.