Gopabandhu Academy of Administration" was established in May, 1958 at Hirakud, Sambalpur, as an Administrative Officers' Training School under the General Administration Department of Government of Odisha. In the year 1974, it was shifted to the Gram Sevak Talim Kendra, Siripur and was then relocated in 1975 at the old shopping centre of General Administration Department in Sahid Nagar where it was named as Gopabandhu Institute of Administration and Training (GIAT) after Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, a great son of Odisha who has left an indelible mark in the fields of freedom movement and selfless social service. Later on it was rechristened as Gopabandu Academy of Administration.. The Academy was shifted to its present permanent campus at Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar in August 1989. It is located over an area of 18 acres of land and is at a distance of about 6.5 Kilometers from Bhubaneswar Railway Station, 6 Kilometers from Baramunda Bus Stand, about 10 Kilometers from Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar and is about one kilometer to the west of the Xavier Square on the main road leading from Jaydev Vihar to Nandan Kanan. The Academy is adjacent to the Xavier Institute of Management.

    It is the Apex Training Institute of the State. The basic objective of the Academy has been to impart training to probationers of Odisha Administrative Service (OAS), Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of Odisha Cadre and Indian Economic Service (IES) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) at the point of entry as well as inservice officers of various Departments of the Govt. of Odisha and the line Departments. Besides, probationers of Indian Forest Service Cadre receive orientation training in the Academy. The change in governance perspective and development scenario has given a new dimension to the human resource development approach of the Government at National and State levels. Keeping pace with the demand of time, the Academy has evolved to its present status. It has been in the centre stage of human resource development and playing an active role in the capacity building of not only administrative officers but also line department officers of almost all departments through short-term executive development programmes in the areas of governance and development sectors like agriculture, rural credit, animal husbandry, rural development, urban development, watershed, poverty amelioration, disability welfare, disaster management, sustainable development, right to information, office management, financial management, public private partnership etc. The short term programmes are supported by DoPT, Government of India. The Academy is also extending support to various Departments of Government of Odisha to conduct capacity building programmes for their officers.

    The Academy is in the process of evolving into a centre of excellence in terms of infrastructure, faculty and academic resources.

    Detailed information about the Academy as required to be put in the public domain under the RTI Act can be accessed here.