Consider the following Chairpersons of the National Women Commission: 1) Jayanti Patnaik 2) Mamta Sharma 3) Dr. Girija Vyas 4) Dr. Poornima Advani Select the correct chronological order of their appointment from the codes given below.

The correct answer is D (1, 4, 3, 2). The National Commission for Women was set up under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990, and began functioning in 1992. Jayanti Patnaik was its first chairperson, so she comes first.

Dr. Poornima Advani came next, serving in the early 2000s, before Dr. Girija Vyas took over around 2004. Girija Vyas's term ran till about 2010, after which Mamta Sharma became chairperson, so she is last.

• Option A puts Mamta Sharma second, which is wrong because she came after Girija Vyas.
• Option B puts Girija Vyas before Jayanti Patnaik, which is wrong because Patnaik was the first chairperson.
• Option C places Poornima Advani last, which is wrong because she preceded Girija Vyas.

Core concept: statutory bodies under the Constitution or a Parliamentary Act and their succession. For Mains, the NCW's functioning under Article 15(3) and Article 39 and its statutory status are useful, and the chairperson's role is a common question in governance answers.

Trap: candidates often guess the order by recognising names and ignore tenure dates. Memorise the sequence as a chain, not as isolated names, and check dates whenever a name appears in the options.