Present study was conducted in Ghorbe micro watershed of Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh. Ghorbe watershed was a people centered effort to develop natural, social as well as human resources. In spite of efforts made, empowerment of the people was low to moderate. Participation of the communities were in various forms viz., donation of land, materials, man power, social fencing and decision making in mobilization of resources within the watershed area. The few indicators of participation and empowerment were visible in Ghorbe watershed area. The age, gender and size of farm holding had non significant relationship with the extent of participation while it was significant with education, family composition, caste, occupation, annual income, infrastructure facility, land topography, type of soil, irrigation facility and cropping pattern of the respondents. Majority of the people on the upstream side exhibited a low level of participation while those along the downstream side of watershed area participated more

Keyword: Micro watershed; Empowerment