New Delhi, Aug 17 - Identifying terrorism, insurgency in the northeast and Maoist violence as the three biggest challenges facing the country, Home Minister P. Chidambaram Monday said state governments need to do more to stamp out the threats to India's internal security.

'Let me recall the three challenges to internal security. Firstly, terrorism; secondly, insurgency in the north eastern states; and thirdly, Left wing extremism or naxalism,' Chidambaram said while addressing chief ministers at the internal security conclave.

'Our collective record has been a mixed one. Our best achievements have been in the reiteration of our determination to fight terror, in the sharing of intelligence, in the unanimous support for new laws and new instruments; and in acknowledging that police reforms have been neglected for too long,' he said.

'On the other hand, there are still critical deficiencies in budget allocations for the police, recruitment, training, procurement of equipment, introduction of technology, and personnel management.'

Detailing the steps taken by states to counter these challenges, the home minister emphasised that better intelligence and preparedness was required to thwart potential terror attacks.

'We have one instrument to confront and defeat the three challenges, and that is the police. In the final analysis, it is the policeman and the policewoman who will help us win these battles,' said Chidambaram.

'To that policeman and policewoman, this conference must send out a clear message that government at every level is duty bound to provide them every kind of support -- monetary, material and moral.'

The home minister pointed out that in seven-and-a-half months, over 303 men and women belonging to the police and paramilitary forces had died while battling terror.

The home minister stressed that state governments were not pitching hard enough to the tasks ahead, especially the task of removing deficiencies.

'While preparing for this conference, we had circulated a questionnaire to the state governments requesting them to indicate the present status under a number of heads and on a number of issues.