New Delhi:
Will there be an end to the deadlock between the government and the Opposition over the Nuclear Liability Bill today?
The latest version of the Nuclear Liability Bill is widely considered to be outrageous. It allows manufacturers of nuclear equipment to escape scot-free without paying any damages, even if their equipment is faulty and caused a nuclear disaster.
Under this version, a manufacturer of faulty nuclear equipment is only liable if they deliberately supplied faulty equipment and, more than that, they supplied that equipment with the intention of causing a nuclear disaster.
This, the Opposition says will be very hard to prove. BJP is not willing to dilute the supplier's liability. The Left too totally opposed to the bill.
So, desperate to win BJP's support to resolve the deadlock, Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Prithviraj Chavan met leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley on Monday. He is meeting CPM leader Sitaram Yechury today.
Sitaram Yechury has said that the government has responded positively to their views on the nuclear liability bill. "There has been a positive response verbally on the question of supplier's liability. What has been stated in the draft as willful act of negligence, which we told them is impossible to prove, the government is willing to reconsider," said Yechury.
Speaking to NDTV's Dr Prannoy Roy on India Decides, Chavan said the government was willing to consider any proposal from the Opposition.
"I am willing to consider any suggestion that comes from political parties...will consider with open mind so that we continue this broad consensus that we brought on this very complex piece of legislation. We accepted all the suggestions of major political parties and the standing committee and I am sure we will be able to work consensus on this contentious issue also."
Chavan and Jaitley are said to have discussed four options to resolve the crisis:
• Option One - Amend the draft after tabling. Either remove the word 'intent' that was surreptitiously inserted and led to the latest deadlock
• Option Two - Or change the language, also since the current language is being perceived as harsh by suppliers, both international and domestic
• Option Three - Send the bill back to the standing committee, but in this case it is unlikely to be passed before Obama's visit
• Option Four - Have a liability clause in every contract signed with suppliers
One clause in the Nuclear Liability Bill has become an albatross round the government's neck. The Opposition senses a political opportunity. The government now has to choose between giving in to the demands of the Right and Left or get exposed to the arm-twisting of the Yadavs.