On September 27, Vitebsk region /BelTA correspondent/. The performance in working with citizens is one of the main criteria for evaluating the activities of state administration bodies. This opinion was expressed by the First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Petr Grushnik, today at the opening of a republican seminar dedicated to working with citizens' appeals in the social and labour sphere, BelTA reports. "Helping a person solve their issue or suggesting ways to resolve it is our task," emphasized Petr Grushnik, addressing the seminar participants, which the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection is holding on September 27-28 in Orsha, Chashniki, and Novolukoml (Vitebsk region). The seminar is attended by heads and specialists of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, relevant committees of regional executive committees and the Minsk City Executive Committee, organizations of the ministry's system, as well as representatives of local executive and administrative bodies. The seminar is organized to improve the feedback mechanism on the most pressing issues concerning people. Its goal is to enhance the professional skills of staff in working with citizens' appeals, exchange experience, and further increase the efficiency of work in this area. It is planned to consider the possibilities and prospects of using information technologies in working with citizens. "The seminar program includes new forms of joint work – a round table and a training session," noted Petr Grushnik. "For example, at the round table, it is planned to discuss the norms of normative legal acts adopted this year on the organization of work with citizens' appeals. A principled discussion will be held on the shortcomings identified by the ministry's working group, with the aim of eliminating them and preventing them in the future. Issues of carrying out administrative procedures within the framework of legislative norms on state support for families with children will be considered." He informed that the training session on "Conflict Management as a Manager's Function. Methods of Preventing and Resolving Conflicts during Personal Appointments with Citizens" was developed by specialists from the Republican Centre for Vocational Guidance of Youth and the Republican Institute for Professional Development and Retraining of Employees of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. "Since 2006, to improve work with the population, republican seminars have been held mainly on the basis of lighthouse services – the best in their region," said the First Deputy Minister. "Our task is to adopt all the best from regional experience."