New Delhi: Assuming charge as the water resources minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal said on Wednesday that the finalization of the national water policy by March 2012 would be his first priority. “We are very keen to meet the March 2012 deadline. My predecessor Salman b h a idid a very good job. I hope to take it forward... we are also keen about the river linking projects,” Bansal said. The water policy, which has been in the works for a while now, envisages handing over operation and maintenance of canals to elected bodies from among villagers in a model adopted from the water user associations (WUAs) or pani panchayats of Maharashtra. This would make farmers the masters of their own farm water. Also, discussions are on about the option of charging farm water by volume rather than on the area under irrigation. “The pani panchayat experiment has been successful in several Maharashtra villages, including Ralegon Siddhi, Anna Hazare’s native place. Some of the villages have started recovering 90% expenses, thanks to it,” a source said.