Opinion View from the LEFT
Having decided to oppose the proposed Civil Nuclear Liability Bill,the CPI(M) is of the view that the legislation is being...
Nuclear cap
Having decided to oppose the proposed Civil Nuclear Liability Bill,the CPI(M) is of the view that the legislation is being brought to safeguard the interests of American suppliers and investors and it will prove to be another case of New Delhi capitulating to the US and putting the interest of US capital before the interests of its people. The lead editorial in the latest issue of CPI(M) weekly organ Peoples Democracy argues that the US had linked the completion of the Indo-US nuclear agreement to Indias capping of nuclear liability and this explains the haste behind moves to introduce the Bill in Parliament. The proposed bill has sought to limit all liability arising out of a nuclear accident to only 300 million SDRs (about $450 million) and the liability of the operator only to Rs 300 crore. The difference between $450 million and Rs 300 crore (about $67 million) is the governments liability.
Given that a serious accident can cause damage in billions,the small cap of $450 million proposed shows the scant regard the UPA government holds for the Indian people. The Bhopal Settlement of $470 million reached between the Government of India and Union Carbide and accepted by the Supreme Court,has been shown to be a gross underestimation, it says.
The party alleges that it is completely unconscionable of the UPA government to suggest that all nuclear accidents,which have the potential of being much larger than Bhopal,be capped at a figure that has already been shown to be a gross underestimate. Since the government wants to allow private operators in the nuclear power sector,this low level for compensation is meant to serve their interests too. The editorial also notes that neither Russian nor French suppliers have raised the issue of capping or limiting nuclear liability.
AIIMS reform
In the light of the contentious M.S. Valiathan committee report,the CPI(M) feels that plans are afoot to corporatise AIIMS. It says the four-member expert committee,whose task was to suggest ways to turn AIIMS into a centre of excellence and a leader in public health,has made recommendations to restructure the premier medical institution in the public sector. An article in Peoples Democracy says the government has welcomed the recommendations of the committee,showing its complete capitulation to the needs of a neoliberal economic order. In fact,the faculty of AIIMS has also been arguing that the report is a perfect prescription for corporatising the institution.
The Valiathan Committee imbroglio is a reflection of the fact that the present Indian state seeks transformation of research institutions into profit-making commercial enterprises. In the neoliberal order,science is no longer seen as a way to advance knowledge and the well-being of society but as a means for generating profits for corporations, it says.
Arguing that AIIMS is in urgent need for resuscitation,the article says its demise would signal the end of publicly funded excellence in the field of medicine in India. The primary need is to bring back the ideas of public funded science and medical education into the functioning of the institute. Tragically,the Valaithan Committee does exactly the reverse.
PSU disinvestment
The CPI(M) has always opposed disinvestment of profit-making PSUs and it is but natural for it to lash out at Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for his decision to divest at least 10 per cent of government equity in all listed public sector undertakings. An article in the CPI(M) weekly mouthpiece questions his peoples ownership catchphrase and ridicules Mukherjees theory that stock market listing adds significantly to the enterprise value of a PSU.
The invocation of peoples ownership is nothing but a cover to transfer resources,which are already in the hands of the state which represents the entire people,to a miniscule minority of 1 per cent of Indian people who are rich and affluent. Only less than one per cent of Indian households invest in equities or participate in the stock market.
It argues that enterprise value is nothing but the value of a company on the basis of prevailing stock prices,which are essentially driven by speculative players. Is the finance minister oblivious of the fickle-mindedness of the stock markets and the fragility of such enterprise value derived on the basis of market valuations?
How far can such market valuation be taken seriously,after what we have witnessed in the financial markets across the world since September 2008? The BSE Sensex in India,which had crossed 21000 points in January 2008,had fallen to below 8000 points by September 2008. Now it has once again risen to above 17000 points,which points towards another bubble in the making, it says.
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