The Institute was set up by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Co-operation, Government of India in the year 1954 as one of the four Development Officers Training Centers (DOTC) established in the Country. As such it is one of the oldest SIRDs in the country. In 1958, the Institute’s name was changed to “ORIENTATION TRAINING CENTRE” and subsequently to “ORIENTATION AND STUDY CENTRE”. In the year 1967, the Central Government handed over the training Centre to the State of Bihar and renamed it as the “COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND PANCHAYTI RAJ TRAINING INSTITUTE (CDPRTI). In 1984, the Institute has become an apex training Institute for rural development in the State of Bihar and was renamed as the Bihar Institute of Rural Development (BIRD).
On creation of the State of Jharkhand the Institute became the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) in the year 2002. The Institute has four functions training, research, field work and dissemination of knowledge. It is the only State level Institute providing training in Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Allied subjects in the entire State. Its efforts are directed towards imparting training to Officials of Jharkhand, NGO’s and PRI functionaries. SIRD is financially supported by Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Govt. of India and the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Jharkhand.