The government is so desperate to get the nuclear liability bill passed that it has indicated its willingness to double the nuclear operator’s liability — from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore — in the event of a nuclear disaster.

Ever since the bill was put in the public domain, the government has been facing strong criticism from the opposition parties, the media and policy experts for fixing a very low liability for the operator. The matter of liability gained all the more importance in the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict: now the compensation of $470 million (or Rs 2,209 crore at the current exchange rate) for the Bhopal gas victims seems grossly inadequate 26 years after the tragedy. The impact of a nuclear disaster can only be far worse.

There have been strong demands to follow the “polluter pays" principle, an internationally accepted norm that has been upheld by our Supreme Court also. By fixing the maximum liability of the nuclear operator at Rs 500 crore in the draft bill, the government gave an impression that just as it let Union Carbide off lightly after the 1984 disaster, it may be doing the same for those who would be setting up nuclear power plants in the country.

It is to blunt this criticism and smoothen the bill’s passage in the forthcoming parliamentary session that the Prime Minister’s Office has, it is reliably learnt, passed the word quietly that the government is ready to increase the limit of liability to Rs 1,000 crore.

The bill is being deliberated yupon by a parliamentary panel which is expected to submit its report in the monsoon session which begins later this month. Whether the opposition parties will be happy with the proposed change in the liability limit will be known only when the bill is taken up for deliberation and passage in parliament.

But sources reveal the government is mighty keen to ensure its smooth passage in the forthcoming session and that the cabinet reshuffle being planned is also aimed at this. Plans are afoot to rope in the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the PMK into the UPA fold and offer them a few cabinet berths.