Over 14 lakh persons in rural and urban Punjab are still living below the poverty line, the Minister of State for Planning, Mr S.B. Mookherjee, informed the Rajya Sabha. Quoting the National Sample Survey estimates of 1999-2000, he said the average monthly per capital expenditure of those below the poverty line was Rs 320.19 in rural areas and Rs 353.8 in urban areas. While the number of such persons was 51000 in Chandigarh, it was 17.3 lakh in Haryana; 5.1 lakh in Himachal Pradesh and 3.5 lakh in Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said.