I went into the Air India offices and asked many of these questions. An expat Captain was able to answer most of them.
Schedule 6 weeks on 2 weeks off anytime in a 2 month period.
work 6 on 1 off
no standby days, every day is a work day
maximum flight time per week per DGCA rules is 30hrs in 7 days.
Captain complained that hotel in Kochin was a 2 hour ride to the airport, food was bad at hotel so 3 pilots flew while suffering "loose motion" , no reserves meant that flight would cancel if pilots called in sick.
I have heard that many of the flight are late at night. Scheduling will swap you between day and night flights.
I think they may still need pilots as the conditions are not very good compared to Jet airways or Spicejet.
Effective pay is low as you are responsible for all taxes.