China invites every year a delegation of Pakistani youth through Federal Ministry of Youth Affairs under a Pak-China Friendship Programme. This year, a contingent of 100 Pakistanis left on April 19 for a 7-day visit to China. The nominees selected from all four provinces and AJK include 37 from Sindh province only, out of which as many as 20 belong to Larkana district. The list of outstanding youth selected for this delegation includes dozens of close relatives of the minister and the ministry officials as well as those of other VVIPs. A daughter of the Minister for Youth Affairs, a nephew of private secretary to the minister and a son of the ministry's deputy secretary are some of the prominent inclusions. No press advertisement, as prescribed and as per the practice, was released this time seeking applications for selection of suitable candidates nor any criterion set. Minister Shahid Hussain Bhutto, who heads the youth delegation against all norms and precedents, still claims that selection of all members of the delegation was done on merit and there had been no violation of rules, regulations and procedures. -HUSSAIN SIDDIQUI, Islamabad, via e-mail, April 20.