Parliament clears legislation after Congress, BJP agree it's in national interest

Nuclear Bill is no more a 'liability'

Listen to this article

Nuclear Bill is no more a 'liability'

00:00

Parliament clears legislation after Congress, BJP agree it's in national interest
Finally, the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. It has paved the way for India to engage in nuclear commerce with the world. After months of hectic negotiations followed by a settlement between the government and the opposition over the legislation, it was cleared by the Lower House after the government dropped the word 'intent' along with 17 other amendments to the bill.

Despite it being an important legislation, some parties gave chance to their odd members to represent their parties' view on the subject. Jaswant Singh, who got a chance to participate in a debate after a gap of over 15 months, initiated the debate as a representative of the Opposition BJP. Similarly, Supriya Sule stood on behalf of the NCP. Harsimrat Kaur Badal from Shiromani Akali Dal also presented her party's stand on the issue.

Moving the bill, in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said the government had taken on board the amendments proposed by the opposition parties to the bill. "The proposed law is critical for India's nuclear deals with various countries. Today, India boasts of a modest nuclear power programme, roughly, 4,500 MW in a total electricity generation capacity of 1,60,000 MW.

We cannot afford to ignore developing it further. Even if you do not consider the strategic importance of our atomic energy, the medical benefit, the agriculture benefit, the benefit for our energy security in the future is far too important," Chavan said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a brief intervention saying, "The nuclear liability bill completes our journey to end the apartheid in the nuclear field." Singh also countered the charge of BJP leader Jaswant Singh. "To say that this bill is aimed at advancing US interests is far from the truth and history will be the judge," Manmohan Singh said.

Jaswant Singh had asked the government to take the larger concerns of Indians on board and not those of a 'smaller' US market.

Among the participants were Jaswant Singh (BJP), Manish Tewari (Congress), Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Sudip Bandyopadhyay (Trinmool Congress), Basu Deb Acharia (CPI-M), B Mahtab (BJD), Shailendra Kumar (SP), Adhalrao Patil Shivaji, Supriya Sule (NCP), Nama Nageshwar Rao, Dr M Thambidurai, Gurudas Dasgupta, Dr Manmohan Singh, TKS Elangovan, Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Akali Dal) and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD).

LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER
When Supriya Sule was speaking, her father and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar was sitting beside Sonia Gandhi. Both thumped the desks when she finished. Before her speech, she was seen speaking to Sudip Bandyopadhyay and T K S Elangovan, who were sitting in her front desk. Both spoke on the subject before Sule. Sule, who was throughout in a cheerful mood, also used some mouth freshener before speaking. She was also seen interacting in sign language with Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Shahnawaz Hussain before her speech. Supriya Sule said: "With good technology coming, maybe in the next twenty years India would be a major player in the nuclear game and we would be supplying to other countries. We must keep that as an option."