The 40 - year time - frame was derided at the time by leaders of the Indian independence movement as being too long a period to achieve universal literacy .
India had only just crossed the 74 % level by the 2011 census .
Although the 40 - year time - frame was derided at the time by leaders of the Indian independence movement as being too long a period to achieve universal literacy , India had only just crossed the 74 % level by the 2011 census .