It?s nuclear d?j? vu. PM Manmohan Singh had staked his reputation as much as his government on signing the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the US in 2008. Today, the Left is once again up in arms as the government seeks to introduce the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010. Before we get into the pros and cons of the Bill itself, the question that must be addressed is whether adequate effort has been put into making a persuasive case for it. Before we get into the Opposition?s arguments, we must investigate whether the Bill?s provisions have been satisfactorily explained even to Congress party members. This doesn?t seem to be the case. On Monday, despite a whip issued by the parliamentary affairs minister the day before?albeit for passing an archaeological sites ordinance?35 Congress MPs were missing when the legislation was to be tabled. So the tabling never came to pass. On Tuesday, the national security advisor Shivshankar Menon was delegated to give a group of Congress MPs a crash course on the Bill. Union ministers like Kapil Sibal and Prithviraj Chavan, as well as spokespersons Manish Tewari and Jayanti Natarajan, attended the briefing. A similar ?class? is now lined up for UPA partners that are sceptical of the Bill, like Trinamool Congress. If such briefings had taken place before Monday, the Bill might be at a more evolved stage today.
The Left?s allegation that the Bill is just intended to promote US firms is extremely disingenuous. To mention just two other countries from which India is seeking nuclear equipment and technologies at present, both French and Russian companies have been insisting on liability legislation, even if they are not explicitly prohibited from investing in a country without liability legislation like US firms are. A French government official told The Indian Express recently, ?It is absolutely necessary that India has the liability legislation in place for compensation in case of accidents. How can Areva or any other company go ahead without clear guidelines about compensation?? As for liability limits, those questioning the Rs 500-crore limit proposed in the Bill should consider three things. One, the government is expected to provide additional monies that may be more than four times the amount. Two, comparable liability caps in China and Canada are Rs 202 crore and Rs 331 crore, respectively. Most importantly, as rare as nuclear accidents are, the Bill is the first instance of offering guaranteed financial compensation?without requiring victims to run from pillar to post.