This College was established in 1944 as Sambalpur  College, the name of the institution was changed to Gangadhar Meher  College in 1949  after  the  name  of the  illustrious  Oriya  Poet.  It is situated in the tribal dominated , socially and economically  backward  part  of the  country,  the  college  has been striving hard for excellence in  its  way  to  fulfill  its  goal  and  mission  since then. 

Basically,  it aims at educating weaker sections, which constitute about half of the population of Western Orissa. From a small student strength of 192 in 1944, the college has made rapid strides over the periods of time and had grown into a multi-faculty Post-Graduate College, catering to the needs of about 4500 students. It provides teaching facility in 19 subjects at Under-Graduate level and 4 subjects at the M.Phil. stage. Over and above, the conventional streams of study in Humanities, Science and Commerce, this institutions has introduced courses in 'Still  Photography  and   Audio  Production  and Textile Science. In addition to this, the college has been offering Computer courses at B.Sc. and M. Sc. levels including M.C.A. .

         The college has opened some career oriented courses like P.G. Diploma in Bio-Informatics, B.B.A., M.B.A. and B.Sc. Information Science and Telecommunication from the academic session 2003-2004. The relevance of these courses in general terms and within the specific context of a backward part of the country is undeniably significant. This college has also been identified as a center to upgrade the merit of SC and ST students by the Department of Social Justice and Welfare of Govt. of Orissa, which will start functioning from the academic session 2003-2004. Further, the Department of Higher education, Govt. of Orissa identified this college to start a career oriented course in PG Diploma in Customer Contact Service from the current academic session i.e. 2003-2004.

            The college has been functioning as an Autonomous College since 1991 and managed and controlled by statutory and non-statutory bodies, as prescribed by the University Grants Commission. The autonomy of this institution has been extended up to 2005-2006 by the UGC, basing on its academic reputation , co-curricular activities, quality of institutional management and responsiveness of administrative structure. This Institution is fully committed to its aims and goals and taking good care of students.