After the grounding of Sahib Singh Verma's ambitious housing project, there appears a confusion in the labour ministry about his proposal to extend the provident fund cover to workers of the informal sector.

Verma had promised to make a statutory provision for over 350 million workers of the unorganised sector under the provident fund net.

Verma virtually ignored objections by some officials that the proposal would be difficult to implement.

Sources in the ministry say it is still unclear as to which agency will be created to collect provident fund contribution from the beneficiaries of Verma's plan.

Given the limited staff strength of the PF office, it will be impossible for the government to carry out this new duty.

Collection of funds from unorganised workers on this scale runs the risk of turning into a major scam if the private sector is involved.

Senior officials say though the minister has been given a suggestion to take up a particular sector of the unorganised labour on experimental basis under the provident fund scheme, Verma's insistence to extend the scheme all over country has caused serious problems.

That the scheme has to be drafted hurriedly is evident from the fact that Verma proposes to introduce an umbrella legislation on labour issues in the Budget session of Parliament.

One of the important components of this legislation is extension of the provident fund cover to the informal sector. Officials are noncommittal about this proposal becoming a reality.

Verma's earlier proposal of giving houses to PF contributors was grounded amidst protest by leaders of trade unions on the ground that houses are sub-standard and the project is intended to benefit contractors' lobby.