In what seems to be another round of pre-election sops - this one for the tribal community - the Centre has granted permission to the Jharkhand Government to convert forest villages into revenue villages and regularise the lease of forest land to tribals living in the forest. Chief Minister Arjun Munda said, "Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee granted the permission on February 5 at a meeting." He further said: "It was a longstanding demand of the tribals since the country's independence."