London:  A third of seats in India's Parliament are to be reserved for women under a law to be put before the legislature today - International Women's Day - in one of the country's boldest steps towards gender equality since independence in 1947.

The Women's Reservations Bill would increase the number of women in the 543-seat legislature -which currently has no gender quota - from 59 to at least 181 at the next general election. The Bill, which was introduced in 1996 but repeatedly blocked by opposition parties, would also reserve a third of seats in all state assemblies, although it would not apply to the upper house of Parliament.

The ruling Congress Party believes that it has enough support from its allies and two opposition blocs, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist parties, to push the Bill through.

"What a gift to the women of India if, on this important day, this historic legislation is introduced and passed," Sonia Gandhi, the Congress leader, was quoted as telling party leaders.

Rights activists have hailed the Bill as a breakthrough for Indian women whose quality of life still lags behind their counterparts in East and South-East Asia and in some parts of Africa. India introduced universal suffrage on its independence from Britain and elected Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister in 1966. Last year it elected Pratibha Patil as its first woman President, and Meira Kumar as its first woman Speaker of Parliament.

India also reserves a third of positions on panchayats - local governing bodies in towns and villages - for women and last year the Government decided to increase that to 50 per cent. Progress has been slow on improving rights and living standards for ordinary women in a country where traditional attitudes prevail in most of the countryside and among the urban poor. The World Economic Forum ranked India 114th of 134 countries in a 2009 report on global gender disparities, with India posting low scores on female life expectancy, health and education.

The UN ranked India 134th out of 182 countries last year for female literacy. Many of the countries ranked lower were in sub-Saharan Africa.

Quotas for women in Parliament have been introduced in several other Asian countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh as well as in many African ones. India, meanwhile, has wrestled with the issue for more than 15 years as political parties battled for ownership of the law and for larger quotas for ethnic, caste and religious minorities. The Bill is particularly sensitive because it would mean amending the Constitution, which means it must be approved with a two thirds majority in both houses of parliament.

Congress says that it has enough votes to push the Bill through both houses thanks to support from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist parties.