NEW DELHI: When the Tamil Nadu delegation led by State Finance Minister O Panneerselvam met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 7 to discuss Koodankulam issue, they were told that a joint panel comprising representatives of the anti-project protesters and State officials would engage the small expert group set up by the Centre.The Centre even promised the State - more importantly the Chief Minister - would be consulted before clearing the names. But the PM’s subsequent letter ignores the promise: “I have offered that the Central Government will constitute a small group of experts to interact with the representatives of the people of the region to satisfy all their legitimate concerns. This exercise would suitably involve the Government of TN.’’ Not a word more.Union Minister V Narayanasamy does his best to play down the Koodankulam logjam. “The State leadership is busy with local body polls. We’re in constant touch. Here we’re waiting and watching the situation,’’ he said. Then why has the PMO not moved an inch on setting up its expert panel? He feigned helplessness, “How can we set up the panel unless the state government names their panel? Who will our experts talk to?’’Manmohan Singh’s wish has been to leave nuclear energy as his legacy. He had even staked his government on the Indo-US Nuclear Deal in 2008. Even then, the AIADMK had voted against the deal along with the Left. But ally DMK, that voted for the deal has been sidelined on Koodankulam. T K S Elangovan, DMK spokesperson, says the Centre never sought their help even to understand the issue. “None of the parties are involved in the protests, not even the Communists. The Church is running it. But the Centre is not consulting us.’’After being accused of sending bureaucrats instead of political interlocutors to save Manmohan’s nuclear dreams, the PMO is trying to outsource the job. It has zoomed in on Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Mumbai, to open a dialogue with the Koodankulam protesters-mostly Christian fishermen. But then, going by the PMOs record of bungling important matters, nuclear energy is no different. Cardinal Oswald is a prelate of the Catholic Church, but in Koodankulam the majority of Christians are Protestants!Kalam to Tour Coastal Areas to Inspect N-SitesFormer President A P J Abdul Kalam is planning to tour coastal areas which are proposed sites for nuclear power plants in the State. Responding to queries from newspersons here on Saturday on the safety of the Koodankulam project, which has been the subject of debate in the last few weeks, Kalam said, “we must generate nuclear power in such a manner that it does not harm the environment in any way. Along with a team of nuclear experts, I will visit all the coastal areas where nuclear plants are to be developed, inspect them and submit a report to the media in 10 days,” he said. “We will offer our suggestions to the government on measures to ensure the safety of the nuclear power plants.”
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