As a Parliamentary panel races to submit its report on the nuclear liability bill, Bharatiya Janata Party appears to have dug its heels asking the government to clarify whether the draft legislation was India-specific or being enacted to fulfil requirements of international treaties.
The parliamentary standing committee on Science and Technology was expected to finalise its report on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 at its meeting on Monday but unanimously decided to have another sitting a day later.
The Committee is now expected to finalise its report on Tuesday and adopt the re-drafted Bill the day after.
The report of the committee is likely to be submitted to Parliament on August 12 or 13. The Committee was granted an extension for the second time on July 27 for a period of 15 days till August 11.
"There could be another minor extension," a member of the Committee said adding that the report would be submitted this week itself.
Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan had recently said that the government was keen to make the legislation "more robust" and was open to changes.
Chavan had said that once the Committee submits its report, the government would refer it to the department of atomic energy for its views and then move the changes that are acceptable to the Union cabinet for its approval.
The BJP is understood to have been insisting that the government clarify whether the Bill was "India-specific" or "international treaty-specific".
There is a feeling in the BJP that the United Progressive Alliance government wants to pass this Bill as it had pledged to do so in the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
It is mulling moving a dissent note before the Standing Committee if it finds that the government is not adhering to the party's suggestions.
The Left parties have already indicated that they may move a dissent note.
The right-wing party's main argument is that if government or the public sector is the only operator then there is no need for the Bill as the liability of the government is unlimited in case of a mishap.
The BJP apprehends that the government is keen to enact the legislation to keep a public company as a front and allow private players in the nuclear sector at a later date.
Sources said the committee is expected to recommend that the cap for compensation in the case of a nuclear accident should be enhanced to Rs 1,000 crore from Rs 500 crore, which was proposed in the bill.
The Committee, headed by Congress MP T Subbirami Reddy, is also expected to recommend that there should be adequate provision for the liability of the supplier of material to the atomic plants in India, they said. It is also likely to suggest extending the period of victims claiming damages from the current up to 10 years from the time of a nuclear incident to more than 15 years.
