In his 30-minute address, the Governor called for repealing and modifying some police laws, including the Indian Police Act of 1861, which, he said, had been framed with a colonial mindset and was not suited to the present situation. He suggested several measures including a separate investigation and prosecution wing in the police to vigorously pursue criminal cases and stressed on fixing a tenure of senior police officers.

Touching upon various challenges facing the policemen, the Governor, who himself was a distinguished police officer, said the Police Science Congress offered an importantplatform for the police to take stock of its shortcomings and to increase the horizons of its officers.

Asserting that Kashmir was at the core of India's nationalism and whatever happened here had implications for other parts of the country, he said the people fighting militancy had to continue showing firm resolve. He suggested stricter control on the borders, more commando-type operations and better intelligence-gathering as ways to accentuate the fight against militancy. Urging policemen to be careful about human rights abuses, he said that good work of several can be undone by recklessness of one.

Admitting that scores of crimes were not being properly investigated and the rate of conviction had deteriorated, he stressed on close coordination with prosecuting agencies to bring the guilty to book in quickest possible time. Otherwise, he warned, ``people may be tempted to take law in their own hands.'' Maintaining that the criminal investigation system was threatening to break down, he also drewattention of the police officers towards slackness sometimes shown by investigation officials in gathering evidence from the scene of crime.

Laying stress on taking the right material in the police force, he suggested raising the minimum eligibility level of Constables to 10+2. This, he said, would help them cope with the growing role of science in their day-to-day working.

Calling for a serious stock-taking by policemen of their deficiencies and challenges ahead, he said that organised crime, narcotics, cross-border terrorism, communalism, corruption, ethnic conflict, unemployment, abuse of money power, politicisation of the police force, cyber crime and economic offences were among the problems to confront the policemen in the next few decades.

The Governor said many of the laws governing police action were of colonial origin and the democratic reforms carried out had not succeeded.

He also released a souvenir to mark the beginning of the congress.