Govt easy on suppliers, says Left

The Left parties on Thursday slammed the government for trying to let the foreign suppliers go off the hook in the event of a nuclear accident by diluting provisions in the Nuclear Liability Bill.

The Left parties on Thursday slammed the government for trying to let the foreign suppliers go off the hook in the event of a nuclear accident by diluting provisions in the Nuclear Liability Bill.

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CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said by adding “and” in sub-clause 17 (a), the right of the operator to claim damages from the supplier of nuclear equipment and material has been made "entirely contingent on whether such right is explicitly provided in the private contract between the operator and supplier."

Karat said what is more “dubious is this significant weakening of clause 17 has been done under the guise of strengthening the right of recourse against the foreign suppliers”.

When asked whether the Left parties will support the Bill if Government doesn’t include the ‘and’ in clause 17, Karat said, “Let the Government makes the changes first.”

Left sources, said they are of the view that government cannot make significant changes to this clause as that would irk the US suppliers.