Bhubaneswar, May 27: The BJD today posed several questions to the Centre on the promises it had made to Odisha.

This comes in the wake of the BJP's daily pinpricks since May 22 with it questioning the state government's claims on the achievements of its various departments.

Slamming the central government, BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb today raised questions ranging from the state not being accorded a special category status, revision of coal royalty to providing Odisha an industrial corridor. Deb said: "The state expects prompt replies to these questions from either the central ministers or the BJP spokespersons."

Replying to this, BJP spokesperson Golak Mohapatra said: "The BJD has failed on all fronts in the past 17 years and has no guts to reply to the questions raised by the BJP. Now, they are enacting a drama by posing questions to us."

Deb reminded the BJP of its electoral promise to provide employment to two crore youths every year. "If Odisha's share comes to 5 per cent, its 30 lakh youths should have got employment in three years," he said and asked Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP's poster boy in Odisha, to share with everyone the number of Odia youths being provided employment at the Paradip oil refinery set up by Indian Oil Corporation Limited, a central government undertaking.

Deb said the BJP, in its election manifesto earlier, had promised to back the special-category state status to Odisha. "Why is the BJP backing out from its poll commitment after it came to power at the Centre?"

The other questions raised by the BJD related to revision of coal royalty, reasons for Odisha not being given an industrial corridor, progress of the coastal highway, white paper on the exact amount of black money that the central government got through demonetisations, reduction in a number of central schemes in the state, the extent of financial support on the front of irrigation and the actual figure of the length of the national highway in the state.

Mohapatra pointed out that the BJD had agreed to the decision of the Planning Commission during the UPA regime that the special category state status should not be given to any state.

On providing jobs, he blamed the Naveen Patnaik government for the growing unemployment.

"How could employment be given to Odia youths, if the state government did not facilitate employment and self-employment to the youths trained by various private institutions sponsored by the Centre under the Skill India programme?" he asked.

In reply to Deb's question on how much Odisha got from the reverse auction of mines, Mohapatra asked the BJD to look up the figures from the state steel and mines department.