Lok Sabha passes nuclear liability Bill

Agencies
Bellevision Media Network

New Delhi, 25 August 2010: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday gave its nod to the civil nuclear liability Bill after 18 amendments were made to the proposed atomic law that triples the liability cap on an operator in case of an accident to Rs. 1,500 crore from Rs. 500 crore.

 

The legislation was cleared by the lower house after the government removed the word “intent” and amended a controversial clause stating that the operator will have the right to recourse in case of a nuclear accident if it was the consequence of an “act of supplier or his employees done with the intent to cause nuclear damage”.

 

Moving the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said the government has taken on board the amendments proposed by the opposition parties to the civil nuclear liability Bill. The proposed law is critical for India’s nuclear deals with various countries.

 

 

Making an intervention during the debate on the Bill in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described it as the completion of journey to end apartheid against India in the field of atomic power and rejected allegations that the proposed legislation was designed to benefit American interests.

 

Dr. Singh asserted that atomic power was the “viable” option which could not be ignored and the legislation would enable India to widen this option by undertaking nuclear commerce with the world.

 

“I categorically state that this Bill is completion of journey to end the nuclear apartheid which the world had imposed on India,” he said as he sought unanimous support for the Bill in the House.

 

On the allegations that the Bill was aimed at benefitting U.S. companies, Dr. Singh said, “To say that this has been brought to promote American interests, to promote American corporations, I think, this is far from the truth.”

 

He said such charges against him were not new as he had faced these even in 1992 when he presented the Budget as the then Finance Minister.

 

Pointing out that senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani was aware of it, Dr. Singh said the whole opposition, with a few exceptions, demanded his impeachment claiming that the budget had been prepared in the U.S.