After our pressure, nuke bill now 'India-centric': BJP

BJP today said the government "bowed" under pressure put by it on the issue of the Nuclear Liability Bill and has changed it from being "US-centric to India-centric."

BJP on Friday said the government "bowed" under pressure put by it on the issue of the Nuclear Liability Bill and has changed it from being "US-centric to India-centric."

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"The format in which the nuclear liability Bill had come, it was against national interest. We are happy that government has bowed down under our pressure and has taken steps in national interest," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi.

He added, the party was concerned about the understanding reached in the Standing Committee, "directly or indirectly, there was an attempt to shield the suppliers."

Prasad said after BJP pressurised the government against ignoring national interest, "the compensation money was increased, liability of the operator was fixed and most importantly the supplier's liability was also fixed".

Speaking on the issue, party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said earlier, the bill was "US-centric but the members of Standing Committee who are from different political parties have succeeded in making it India-centric now."

Asked if the party would support the bill in Parliament after the government accepted the changes, Prasad said, "We will reserve our comments till we see the fine print."

Under Opposition attack for trying to "dilute" the provisions of the nuclear liability bill, Government on Friday made certain amendments to strengthen the proposed legislation, which was approved by the Union Cabinet, paving the way for its consideration by Parliament.

The Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved almost all the key recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee that examined the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010.