Nuclear Bill tabled in LS, Opposition stages walkout

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The UPA government today managed to introduce the Nuclear Liability Bill in the Lok Sabha today, even as the Opposition BJP staged a walkout alleging that the introduction of the Bill was a "stealth operation" by the government and did not give the Opposition enough time to put its grievances on record. The Bill will now be referred to a parliamentary standing committee on energy, where government sources said some changes could be brought into it.According to top government sources, the 10 year claims cap written into the Bill, under which claims can be made only within 10 years of a nuclear accident taking place, could be tweaked to raise the limit to 15 years. "This is one of the demands of the Opposition which we are willing to consider," said a senior government minister.What will not be tweaked will be the top layer of compensation to be awarded in case of a nuclear accident, which has been capped at $300 million SDR (Special Drawing Rights). "If we change this, we will find it difficult to access the special international fund which has been created to pay out compensation in case of nuclear accidents," said the minister. "Instead, the lower end of the compensation spectrum which is a minimum of Rs 500 crore, could be raised," he said. "Claims could also be filed in high courts and other courts in the country in the event of the compensation amount not being enough," he added.The BJP, however, appeared in no mood to be conciliatory over the Bill. "We have been approached several times by the National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also spoke to me two days ago for cooperation in clearing this Bill. We have made our stand clear to both of them," said leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj."We are very clear that the cap on the compensation amount should be removed or at least made compatible with international standards. We also did not like the way the Bill was introduced on the last day of the session. Parliamentary Affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal approached us at 10 pm on Thursday night to tell us that the Bill would be brought in," she said.With the Bill now with the Standing Committee, the government is hoping that matters will proceed more smoothly. "If the committee can expedite matters, we can move the Bill in the monsoon session," said a government minister.

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