Who was the first woman to became a Chief Election Commissioner of India ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, V. S. Ramadevi. Vellikkakathu Sankaran Ramadevi was the first woman Chief Election Commissioner of India, holding office briefly in 1990 (26 November to 11 December 1990), just before T. N. Seshan. She had earlier been the first woman Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha, and later served as Governor of Himachal Pradesh and of Karnataka. (The booklet prints 'the first woman to became' — a grammatical slip in the original paper; the fact is unaffected.)

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Not a Chief Election Commissioner of India — a distractor name; no such person has held the office.  (b) Not a Chief Election Commissioner of India — a distractor name with no basis in the CEC list.  (d) Not a Chief Election Commissioner of India — a distractor name; the first woman CEC was V. S. Ramadevi.

Concept: The Election Commission of India is a constitutional body (Article 324) headed by the Chief Election Commissioner. Since 1993 it has usually been a three-member body (CEC + two Election Commissioners). V. S. Ramadevi's very short 1990 tenure makes her both a trivia favourite and the answer to 'first woman CEC'.

State PCS 2019 Q3 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2019 Q3 — Indian Polity PYQ with Answer