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| Hasty govt retreat on nuclear liability cap Bill |
| Bs Reporter / New Delhi Mar 16, 2010, 01:13 IST |
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After having decided to pause on the Women’s Reservation Bill, the government retreated today in the Lok Sabha on what it considers another key legislation, to cap the financial liability of company operating a nuclear power unit.
Though the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill was listed in this morning’s government agenda for being introduced, Speaker Meira Kumar announced this would not be done, due to “a request from the minister” in question, Prithviraj Chavan. The reason was clear: the full spectrum of the Opposition, from Bharatiya Janata Party to the Left parties were opposed.
Both sides claimed victory for this tactical withdrawal. The Opposition was, expectedly, jubilant. Government managers claimed they withdrew it to deny the opposition parties an opportunity to unite.
Informally, top government sources said although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is very keen to get Parliament to enact the law speedily, “parliamentary floor management is another matter altogether”. The opposition says there is no way the draft will pass Parliament without it being referred to a standing committee for sweeping changes. Both BJP and Left — the two groupings whose united support had enabled victory for the women’s bill in the Rajya Sabha — are adamant that there will be no cooperation for the nuclear bill in its present form.
The bill says the liability on the company operating a nuclear plant is to be limited to Rs 500 crore in the event of any accident or mishap. (It also says the government would be required to pay a maximum of Rs 2,200 crore if the effects of damage caused by a nuclear accident affect another nation). The Rs 500-crore cap provision has caused outrage, with both BJP and Left demanding the limit be either removed or made far higher.
All the key countries with whom India signed a partnership for civil nuclear technology — Russia, the UK, France, the US — have made the enactment of a liability law mandatory before arrangements to take nuclear power forward can proceed.
The government says if the cap wasn’t in place at the Rs 500-crore level, the cost of insurance protection against accidents would be both, very high and have to be passed on to the consumer. As a result, the unit cost of nuclear power generation would be too high.
Alternatively, no insurance company would agree to fund such an operator, which means no company would wish to invest in nuclear power in India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had spoken to the CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj (BJP), on these points. National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon also met BJP leader Arun Jaitley last week to brief him about the bill. But, it was in vain; the parties told the PM to amend the bill before bringing it.
Top managers of the ruling United Progressive Alliance told Business Standard the government would hold “further consultations” with political parties before the next step. The government has taken the same path for the Women’s Reservation Bill, after passing it in one House.
According to a section of the Congress, the controversial bill saw an unpublicised clash of priorities between the Prime Minister’s Office and the UPA floor managers. While the PMO is keen to see the bill moves quickly, the UPA floor managers are finding it difficult. “The government might want to do many things but parliamentary democracy may take its own course,” a top minister told Business Standard.
Top government managers conceded they were not sure of a win if the opponents pressed for a vote to introduce the bill. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said, “the government can’t pass this bill. They don’t have numbers in Rajya Sabha. In Lok Sabha too, many outside supporters of the UPA will join hands with us to stop this bill. The government must include a minimum compensation and remove the cap on liability of the operator. There should be unlimited liability.”
CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharya told Business Standard, “liability should be on the supplier of the equipments and not on the operators. We also want a higher cap of liability and not just Rs 500 crore.”
After learning that the government was trying to push the bill today, the CPI(M)leaders quickly reached out to their estranged allies like Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) and Sharad Yadav (JD-U). Acharya met Mulayam Singh Yadav and told him, “Let’s keep the Women’s Bill aside for the time being. We need your help to stop this nuclear bill.” Yadav promptly agreed and together the opponents moved more than 15 notices to the Speaker to stop the bill at the introductory stage itself.
If there were such gaps in perception between the government and the opposition, why was the bill brought to Parliament in the first place ? Government sources say it was the Prime Minister, who was anxious that this legislation be passed, who pushed for its speedy clearance. “The Prime Minister was hoping the bill would not be referred to the standing committee (the representative body that scrutinises each bill before it is debated). As things stand, it may not come up in the budget session at all, let alone be referred to the Standing Committee,” the sources said.
Among the other provisions of the bill are the creation of a commission to decide and award damages; the right of the government to increase or reduce the quantum of the damage awarded (but not by more than Rs 100 crore); and the imposition of a time bar on complaints.
All the three are also issues on which the opposition has serious differences with the government. In its defence, the government says that it is bringing a law where none existed earlier. Government managers note that victims of the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984 had to run from all over for relief and finally had to take resort to the Law of Torts because India has no such law in existence. “With the passing of this bill, at least we will have legislation in place that we can refine as we go along,” a government manager said.
There also seems no doubt that delay in enacting the law spells loss of money coming to India. It is considered essential to jump-start civil nuclear commerce, especially with the US. India at present has a largely indigenous nuclear power programme and aims to generate 20,000 Mw of nuclear power by 2020 and 63,000 Mw by 2032.
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