Onerous task for UPA to rustle support for nuclear damage bill

New Delhi: The Left parties on Saturday firmly rejected overtures from the ruling UPA formation at the Centre to support a Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill that seeks to cap and limit the liability for the operator of a nuclear plant in the event of a mishap of any kind. The UPA government is keen to introduce the Bill in the Lok Sabha and get it cleared before prime minister Manmohan Singh makes his scheduled visit to Washington in April.

The government circulated the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill on Friday and was preparing to introduce it in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

CPM Politburo member and MP Sitaram Yechury reportedly informed the prime minister that his party was opposed to the Bill. ''We will oppose the Bill at the very introductory stage. If it is introduced, it must go the Parliamentary Standing Committee,'' Yechury said.

The prime minister had apparently broached the matter with the senior CPM leader recently, emphasising the need for its early passage. The Bill would ease nuclear commerce with some international nuclear power suppliers, notably the US.

However, the Left parties had a different take on the Bill saying it was "a harmful piece of legislation meant to serve the interests of the US and its nuclear industry."

"The bill is illegal and unconstitutional as it ignores the judgments of the Supreme Court of the 'polluter pays principle'. It compromises the right of a citizen to go to court for claiming adequate compensation," the statement said.