Board of Control for Cricket in India president Jagmohan Dalmiya passed a clear message to the country's umpiring fraternity on Saturday when he said: "Stagnation won't do; you need to think on improving."

He was speaking after the Board's meeting with five zonal representatives of national umpires, in Mumbai, during which various suggestions towards improving umpiring standards in India were put forth.

Also Read Earlier report: BCCI meets with its umpires

"Like players have net practice, the umpires also need to have net practice. There will be two umpires - a combination of senior and junior umpires during net practice. The junior umpire will pass on decisions while the senior will be keeping an eye on the proceedings," said Dalmiya, exhorting umpires to shape up.

Addressing newspersons after the meeting, Dalmiya said "the umpires were informed about the general feeling amongst players, as there were lots of complaints at the captains and coaches conclave".

He said the Board is looking at having frequent workshops in small batches for umpires in each zone and arming match referees with more power.

"The Board will be more selective about selection of referees. We will back the referees; they have to rise to the occasion and when more power is given to the referees they need to use it to the advantage and not to disadvantage," he said.

He also made a strong point on chucking.

"There is no place for chucking in Indian cricket. The umpires have to call and not tell it to the referees.

"Chucking is like a curable disease; we are here to improve the game and not to criticize players.

"The umpires need to come out boldly and freely for Indian cricket to be on the right track," he said, adding the BCCI will back them to the hilt.

He said umpires are "part of the cricketing family and should not feel isolated".

He informed that there was a proposal to have an academy for umpires and referees which will have the latest telecommunication material and also a research wing, which will look into various laws, like the Duckworth-Lewis system.

"Also, the umpires have asked to have a director of umpires who would monitor the umpiring standards and make reports. The director would evaluate umpires' performance on the lines of the ICC's Mr. Richardson, Umpires' manager, who evaluates all the umpires by checking their videos."

There was also discussion on Remuneration.

Dalmiya said: "Remuneration cannot precede accountability and cannot proceed before quality improvement."

Senior umpire A V Jayaprakash, who represented the umpires, said: "This was an opportunity to express our needs to the Board, which was long due. The National Cricket Academy has been a great help since the last four years to the cricketers. So an academy for umpires will also be a great help to improve the standards."

The umpires also urged the Board to let them have a copy of the reports submitted by the captains which, they said, would go a long way in improving their umpiring.