During the Emergency, education was moved from the State List, to the Concurrent List, through the omnibus 42nd Amendment. In discussions on the health of democracy, that one amendment to the Constitution, has been identified as the single most lethal blow to the civil liberties legacy of the struggle for Independence.  Post the elections in 1978, civil liberties were restored, and those parts of the amendment, reversed. 

The shift of education, to the concurrent list, though, has remained, on the Statute books. With this move, the sources of financing and policy interventions expanded, and set the stage, for universalisation. 

Further Readings

Selva G. Universal Education In India: A Century Of Unfulfilled Dreams, https://archive.is/l9bm

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-s-federal-edifice-needs-a-nudge-11570981653330.html

Raveendhren, R.S. New Education Policy and erosion of states' powers, 

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