The study attempts to understand the concept of participationParticipation and the role of the state in promoting sustainableDevelopment development in the MewatMewat Area Development Project, in the Mewat region, HaryanaHaryana. The study aims to problematize the concepts of ‘participation’ and ‘communityCommunity’ in the development process. It tries to find out how these two concepts are contextualized and made operational in the project and what catalyst role the state plays in this process. However, these may not always align with the complex and diverse realities of the communitiesCommunity in situ. The romanticization of a single and (a)historical ‘communityCommunity’ persists in our participatory approaches despite considerable evidence of the overlapping, shifting and subjective nature of dynamic and plural communities. The mainstream participatory approaches toDevelopment development lay great stress on village-based solidarity within communitiesCommunity; processes of conflict and negotiation, in addition, exclusive inclusion and inclusive exclusion are either ignored or occasionally acknowledged but little investigated. Second, this approach ignores the contextual and socio-cultural history of the people of MewatMewat. The study uses a mixed methods approach and variables like embedded economic activities which include soil and water conservationWater conservation, milk cooperativesMilk cooperatives, horticultureHorticulture, social development including self-help groups, non-governmental organizations, and women empowerment to achieve the objectives.