VINA - Vaishnava Internet News Agency - Petition: Don't let U.S. corps off the hook

Petition: Don't let U.S. corps off the hook

Written by The Editor

Saturday, 13 March 2010

Our government is churning out one hazardous bill after another. This time it is a bill called the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, and it's coming up for a vote in a couple of days.

The bill lets U.S. corporations off the hook for any nuclear accidents they cause on Indian soil. They'd only have to pay a meagre amount, and Indian taxpayers would be stuck paying crores for the nuclear clean up and to compensate the victims.

Without any public debate, the Prime Minister is appeasing American interests and ignoring our safety. Sign this petition to ask the PM to hold a public consultation before the vote on this bill.

The petition says: "India must hold a public consultation before changing the liability rules for any nuclear accidents caused by U.S. corporations."

Sign Petition

Comments (1) >>

Karuna Raina said:

Last week, Prime Minister Singh was ready to introduce the nuclear liability bill, which would let U.S. corporations off the hook for any nuclear accidents in India. But over 50,000 of us signed a petition asking him to hold this bill. Now he’s not introducing the bill in this session of parliament after all!

In case of an accident at Indian nuclear plants, U.S. companies would get away by paying a small amount, and Indian tax payers would bear the bulk of the expenses involved. Imagine if this law passes, then we face a disaster even worse than Bhopal.

The bill has only been deferred until the next parliamentary session in a few weeks. Now's the time to increase pressure on the PM to drop this bill.

Can you sign our petition right away?

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/nuke-bill

The petition says: "India must hold a public consultation before changing the liability rules for any nuclear accidents caused by U.S. corporations."

Your signature will be faxed to Dr. Manmohan Singh’s office.

As The Times of India reports:

"Isolated over the civil nuclear liability bill, the government was forced to back off in the Lok Sabha on Monday when it decided to defer introducing the legislation in the face of spirited opposition..." [1]

The victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy are still struggling to get their due 25 years later. In spite of this, the government is pushing for this ridiculous bill which violates our right to life.

We cannot allow American companies to reap benefits without any responsibility. Sign the petition now to tell the PM what you want:

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/nuke-bill

Thanks a billion!

Karuna Raina
Nuclear Campaigner
Greenpeace India

March 17, 2010

Write comment

You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.