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‘N-bill, new law not linked’
With the opposition raising the pitch for withdrawal of the nuclear liability bill, the government on Wednesday said the proposed law to deal with man-made mass disasters had nothing to do with the nuclear bill that deals only with nuclear mishaps.
With the opposition raising the pitch for withdrawal of the nuclear liability bill, the government on Wednesday said the proposed law to deal with man-made mass disasters had nothing to do with the nuclear bill that deals only with nuclear mishaps.
The new law will exclusively deal with time-bound payment of compensation to survivors and victims’ families by the company or individual responsible for an industrial disaster, said a government official.
The proposed law is linked to strengthening the Law of Torts. “Awareness about this law, which allows the citizens to claim compensation for a wrongdoing which harmed them is less,” said Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily.
The Congress also delinked the nuke bill from the proposed compensation law. “There is no connection between the two,” said Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan.
The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 — being scrutinised by parliamentary standing committee on science and technology that had its first meeting on Tuesday — proposes a liability cap of 300 million special drawing rights (around 468 million dollars or about Rs 2,100 crore) and a cap of Rs 500 crore on the power plant operator. The Opposition has dubbed this as meagre and alleged the bill aims to please the US and private players.
The government has said earlier it was willing to consider the panel’s recommendations when it presents its report. But the outcry over the Bhopal verdict has intensified pressure for raising the liability cap.
The bill will enable India to ratify the Convention on Supplementary Compensation and provide a third tier of compensation in the form of access to international fund beyond that of the operator( first-tier) and the state (tier-two).
Intense discussions are expected in further meetings of the panel.
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