This paper examines how socio-economic disparities continue to shape unequal access to education in India, despite decades of policy commitment to universal schooling. Drawing on secondary data from national household surveys, the Annual Status of Education Report, and recent peer-reviewed studies, the paper argues that access to education in India is stratified along multiple, overlapping axes, including household income, caste, gender, rural-urban location, and, increasingly , digital connectivity. The analysis shows that while enrolment at the elementary level has become near-universal, inequality re-emerges sharply at the levels of foundational learning, secondary completion, and entry into higher and professional education, where economically disadvantaged and socially marginalised households remain persistently underrepresented. The paper reviews two major policy instruments, the RTE Act, 2009 and the National Education Policy, 2020, and argues that although both frameworks explicitly recognise equity as a goal, gaps in implementation, financing, and monitoring limit their transformative potential. Particular attention is given to caste-based segregation within schools, the gendered pattern of household educational spending, and the digital divide that widened sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and has only partially narrowed since. The paper concludes that addressing educational inequality in India requires moving beyond enrolment-centred policy targets toward a more redistributive approach that addresses resource allocation, teacher availability, and discriminatory practices within schools. It recommends stronger implementation of existing legal safeguards, targeted financial support for the poorest households, systematic caste- and gender-disaggregated monitoring of learning outcomes, and continued investment in digital infrastructure so that new inequalities do not simply replace old ones.